Our Story
Reading well is the key to academic success.
In his last few years of teaching, Dr. Kirk Buis started giving his 10th grade classes a standardized test at the beginning of the school year to determine the reading level of each student. Their average reading level was on a 7th grade, which meant that half of his 10th grade students arrived in his classroom reading on a 4th, 5th or 6th grade level.
That deficit in reading ability spurred him to contact his family, who are all lifelong readers, and together they formed The Buis Book Foundation, dedicated to helping raise students’ literacy by focusing on overcoming summer reading loss.
In May, 2022, The Buis Book Foundation gave ten books to every student at Thomasville Heights Elementary School in Atlanta Public Schools. Thomasville Heights was closed, so the Book Foundation will be working with Kimberly Elementary School in Atlanta Public Schools. In December, 2022, the Foundation gave every student at Kimberly three books to read over the holiday break. The Foundation will return in May to give every student at least seven books to read over the summer.
The Buis Book Foundation’s long-term goal is to sponsor every Title I elementary school in Georgia and provide books to all of their students to raise their literacy levels and reading interest.
