World of Imagination Bus to bring story times to kids

Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, September 25, 2024

A new effort to promote literacy among children is getting ready to move through Milledgeville — literally. 

The World of Imagination Bus, a collaboration between local tutoring business owner Jemeria Cummings and nonprofit organization Makin’ the Connection, is set to go out into the community beginning next month and bring story times to low-income areas of town to meet local kids where they are. 

The bus will travel to neighborhoods and welcome children aboard for reading opportunities in hopes of encouraging them to dive into books more. 

The bus was unveiled last Wednesday at Arby’s, another partner that helped make Cummings’s dream a reality. The rolling reading experience is decked out with characters from popular children’s stories and features cover artwork of books written by local authors.

“I am aiming to increase the literacy rate in Baldwin County, especially among our children who come from low socioeconomic backgrounds,” Cummings said. “My hope is that the bus will expose them to reading and bring joy and excitement into their lives through books. I love reading and I want our children in Baldwin County to develop a love for reading too so they can be successful in their school work and accomplish their goals.”

A former middle and high school educator, Cummings started her tutoring business Building Readers First about six years ago to address reading gaps she saw firsthand in the classroom. 

In 2022, she began taking her mission a step further when she had the vision to create a literacy bus. 

Kimberly Dennis with Arby’s helped raise money through the restaurant’s AES Foundation. 

The Rev. Tony Fraley and Lisa Shinholster donated a bus through their nonprofit, Makin’ the Connection, which seeks to help remove barriers, like poverty, for young people. The Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy on the Georgia College & State University campus pitched in as well. 

Baldwin High School student Andreaus Whipple provided some exterior artwork after winning a contest at his school. 

“It feels surreal,” Cummings said on the bus out and about. “God gave me the passion for literacy and as I began taking steps toward helping our children, he sent people to partner with me, educate me, and many donors to donate their money to the cause. I am beyond appreciative and filled with so much gratitude. The best part is that my current students, and past students, who are adults now, can see that they can do anything they set their minds to and dreams really do come true.”

Some work still needs to be done to the bus interior, so The World of Imagination Bus is set to make its first real trip out into the community Oct. 19. 

The exact time and location will be shared on the recently-created World of Imagination Bus Facebook page. 

Cummings said the hope is to send the bus out at least twice per month to start. 

She is currently accepting volunteers willing to drive the bus out to locations, help monitor the kids while they are onboard, and, of course, read.