(upbeat music) - Operation Literacy is a non-profit tackling Utah's literacy crisis through early screenings, free books, author visits, and its flagship event, StoryCon.

Joining us is Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Jenkins.

Hi, Jennifer.

- Hi, nice to meet you.

- It's so nice to meet you.

I was just introduced to this organization recently, and you were just saying you started this in your 20s.

- Not just me.

A group of aspiring writers, actually, wanted to create an experience that they wished they had had when they were younger and struggling to tell their own stories in their own worn out journals and things like that.

So Operation Literacy was born, yeah, 2011.

A long time ago.

- So tell us a little bit more about this problem that you're trying to solve.

- Well, the literacy crisis, like you mentioned in our country and even in Utah is of growing concern.

Right now in the state, the NEAP just came out with a study that said, in Utah, 49% of our children are reading at grade level, which means that more than half of our students are reading below grade level.

And there's a lot of implications that go along with that.

We know that by the third grade, a child transitions from learning to read, to reading to learn.

And so it impacts all of their learning, even math, science.

And we also know that a child who is reading below grade level by the third grade is four times more likely to drop out of school, of high school.

And I'll give you one more really quickly.

- [Laura] Okay, okay.

- We also know that a high school dropout, the average high school dropout, has a net negative fiscal contribution to society.

And so it's a huge problem.

- Yeah.

- You know, it's much greater than this cute fourth or third grader who is struggling to read.

It has generational impact and so it's a huge problem.

- And your organization, what an amazing thing that you're doing to help tackle this problem.

- Yeah, we're trying.

- You have StoryCon coming up and a lot of other projects.

And so we're gonna talk a little bit about that and how people can register for that.

- Okay.

- And so registration opens August 15th?

- Mm-hmm.

It opens August 15th, and it is a very popular event.

It's kind of one of a kind, but you'll have to go and check out our website and learn more.

- All right.

Well, if you'd like to learn more about Operation Literacy and StoryCon, registration opens August 15th.

You can go to storycon.org to learn more.

That's storycon.org.

(upbeat music) I'm Laura Durham.

Thanks for watching "Contact."

- Local events, arts, culture.

It's what brings us together.

Hi, I'm Mary Dickson.

Here on Contact, we introduce you to local events and organizations that serve your neighborhood.

If you work for a nonprofit and would like to appear on our show, please visit pbsutah.org/contact.