Thornwell Celebrates the Dedication of The Read Right Center 

Facility is Made Possible by a Generous Gift from the Cornelson Family in Memory of George Cornelson, IV. 

Thornwell, a nonprofit organization committed to the most innovative and effective solutions to help children and families in need across Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, is celebrating the opening of The Read Right Center, a facility made possible through the generosity of the Cornelson family in memory of the late George Cornelson, IV. A dedication ceremony was held Friday, September 9th, to honor the former Thornwell board member and his family’s commitment to expanding the Read Right program in our community. 

“It is with tremendous gratitude to the Cornelson family that we can open the doors to The Read Right Center, and we can also open the doors to the limitless potential of our students through the gift of reading,” said Rev. Myron Wilkins, President of Thornwell. “We are humbled and honored by this gift and excited to be good stewards of this opportunity for the many years that will follow. 

The Read Right Center is housed in the newly renovated Stewart Cottage on Thornwell’s campus. It will now serve as the campus home for educational enrichment through Thornwell’s unique literacy intervention program, Read Right. This innovative program works to rewire the neural network in the brain that helps a child understand the meaning behind the words they are reading. Through instruction and encouragement, tutors help the students figure it out on their own, which fosters confidence and a new comfort in reading they’ve never experienced before. 

Mr. Cornelson’s wife, Ann Cornelson, has provided immense support for The Read Right Center. Friday, she joined Thornwell leaders in unveiling plaques that will commemorate their gift and the memory of her late husband in The Read Right center. 

“For a long time, forever really, we have had an interest in Thornwell. I’m happy to see a successful program that reaches out to the community as well, bringing greater opportunity for many,” said Ann. 

Also in attendance was the developer of the Read Right methodology, Dr. Dee Tadlock, Peggy Nibert, Thornwell’s Read Right Director, Read Right’s tutoring staff, and Norman Dover, Thornwell Vice President of Educational Services. 

“Read Right is much more than a reading program, it’s an empowerment program,” said Dover. “We are more concerned with the learning process than the reading their achievements but the overall success of the program speaks for itself.”

About Thornwell 

Founded in 1875, Thornwell is a diverse nonprofit ministry across South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida that serves to prevent child abuse and neglect, to build up and reunite families, and to support healthy communities in the name of Jesus Christ. Thornwell believes family changes everything in a child’s life, and addresses the welfare of children not as a singular event, but as a comprehensive, ongoing cycle of services and support designed to help children and families, no matter what stage of life they are in. Learn more about Thornwell and the services they provide for children and families in need at http://www.thornwell.org. 

Read Right’s Methodology 

“No individual can “tell” the brain how to perform a complex process; rather, the learner must experiment and figure out for themselves how to do it. The same is true for proficient and above reading ability, or what Read Right calls ‘excellent reading.’” This means the reader: 

• Is 100% internally comfortable as he or she reads 

• Understands the author’s message at a literal level (assuming sufficient background knowledge to enable understanding) 

• When reading out loud, sounds natural, like conversational speech. 

Thornwell is proud to have tutors certified in the instruction of Read Right methodology and supporting the development of “excellent” and confident readers! Learn more about Thornwell’s Read Right program at http://thornwell.org/programs/read-right/ 

Click on the images below to view the photo gallery form the dedication event.