Nourishing The Community Podcast · STP Productionss

Igniting Passions with Literacy - Jolene Radnoti Executive Director of Read to Succeed

·35 min·2 clips

Low literacy is tied to $232 billion in U.S. health-care costs.

1. Nourishing the Community Podcast centers this episode on Jolene Radnoti and Read to Succeed’s work on literacy in Rutherford County. 2. LaDonna Parham hosts with co-host Norman Hanks, and Radnoti serves as executive director of Read to Succeed. 3. The episode asks what literacy gaps look like in daily life and how a small nonprofit can respond. 4. Radnoti says Read to Succeed has been a Rutherford County nonprofit for 20 years and marked that anniversary with the Celebrity Bee fundraiser in November. 5. She says community leaders in 2003 saw that schools needed extra support beyond the classroom. 6. The first programs came from Ronnie Shaw working out of her home with AmeriCorps VISTAs. 7. Radnoti says the organization still runs school reading events with bookmarks, stickers, and volunteers across elementary schools. 8. She describes “Imagination Station” at Mid Cumberland Head Start and Case Lane Pre-K as a monthly book-and-activity program for children and families. 9. She explains family literacy nights where students eat a free meal, hear a book read aloud, and do activities created by MTSU, Lipscomb, or Trevecca students. 10. She says the group also runs culturally relevant book clubs for middle and high school students, including a pilot using The Hate U Give at Riverdale. 11. Radnoti says the books are meant to be “mirrors, windows and doors,” so readers can see themselves, the wider world, and new experiences. 12. She says adult literacy has risen from one in six adults to one in five adults at or below a third-grade reading and writing level. 13. She notes that Read to Succeed offers free help with high school equivalency, job-related math, and other specific literacy goals. 14. She says the work is confidential, matched to a tutor, and usually takes far longer than three months. 15. She describes ESL classes for adults as a major need, with 47 percent of immigrants in the community not proficient in English. 16. She names class sites at Motlow in Smyrna, First United Methodist on Memorial, First Presbyterian, St. Rose, and online daytime and evening sessions. 17. Radnoti connects low literacy to $232 billion in U.S. health-care costs and to weekly earnings of $592 for workers with less than a high school diploma. 18. The conversation stays practical and advocacy-focused, with LaDonna pushing for examples that show how literacy affects rent, food, work, and parenting. 19. People who care about adult education, ESL, school volunteering, and family literacy would get the most from this episode. 20. People looking for a short celebrity interview without community-service details may skip it.

As heard by us

A warm literacy conversation that treats reading support as a real community need.

LaDonna Parham and Norman Hanks keep the conversation easy and neighborly as they bring Jolene Radnotti of Read to Succeed into focus, moving from youth literacy and identity to the harder reality of adult reading and writing struggles.

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Why you'd press play

A practical listen if you want literacy work explained as a community need with real ways to help.

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