These AL Sorority Sisters Are Closing the Literacy Gap
Dr. Dee Dupree Bennett and Monica Anderson Young are the creators of an Alabama-based nonprofit reading initiative, SHORT the Squirrel. Learn how they're making an impact on young readers in the South!
When sorority sisters Monica Anderson Young and Dr. Dee Dupree Bennett reconnected more than 30 years after their time at Troy University, they didn’t anticipate starting a passion project to cultivate a love of reading for Alabama children. But soon after, they’d join forces to create a nonprofit reading initiative. SHORT the Squirrel is now Alabama’s official literacy mascot and visits schools across the state to encourage a lifelong love of reading. Get to know Monica and Dee, and learn how you can get involved with SHORT!
Tell us about how you two met and how your friendship led to SHORT.
Dee: The idea hatched when Monica’s daughter, a new Assistant District Attorney, noticed how children coming to court lacked materials to occupy themselves as electronic devices are not permitted in Alabama courtrooms.
Monica: Dee and I met while attending Troy University, where we were in the same sorority. After living away from Alabama for 30 years, moving back home allowed me to start being engaged again. I attended an alumni event and stayed with Dee. The conversation quickly turned from catching up to sharing that children were waiting without anything to do in courtrooms and brainstorming around a new idea to fill the literacy gap.
That idea quickly morphed into SHORT the Squirrel, a reading superhero who helps children connect with the environment around them through topical literacy booklets like SHORT in Court, SHORT Gets Sick (for doctor’s waiting rooms), and SHORT’s Money Tree (or banks, real estate offices, and car dealerships).
You both maintain your careers alongside SHORT. Can you tell us more about them?
Monica: I work for Allianz, one of the world’s largest financial services industries. We are based out of Munich. I serve as Head of Organizational Effectiveness (culture, DEI, emerging talent, engagement) for Allianz Technology of America and support colleagues across the United States. SHORT is a passion project for Dee and me — a love letter to Alabama and emerging readers.
Dee: I have spent my entire professional career in education in a variety of roles. I began as a kindergarten teacher, then shifted into school psychometry and later into school administration. I am blessed to serve as a Troy University professor and program coordinator in the Instructional Leadership and Administration Program.
Now, tell us all about SHORT!
Dee: I have a background in education, so when Monica began developing an idea for an activity booklet, it became the perfect partnership! Since then, we’ve developed 14 “SHORT” titles focusing on different topics, such as mental health, sustainability, and money. SHORT has made countless appearances at schools across the state to encourage a love for reading by making it fun, entertaining, and educational.
Monica: Through entertaining “SHORT stories,” interactive experiences, and community partnerships, we hope to contribute to the development of young minds, nurturing a lifelong passion for knowledge and a deep connection to the world around them. People often mistake us for a curriculum or school program; in truth, we use the school visits to build awareness for what we really are — a community program strengthening Alabama’s economic future.
How do children get to know SHORT?
Monica: Children, educators, families, and communities from all over can follow SHORT’s social media, watch the programs on YouTube, order the interactive literacy kits for businesses and schools, and children can even write SHORT letters! Most of all, every child needs someone to read together on a consistent basis.
Dee: Creating our content in bi-lingual text also allows us to reach even more children and families.
What has the children’s response to SHORT been like? Are there any especially sweet stories to share?
Monica: So many SHORT stories! Children react to SHORT like he is a rock star focused solely on them! There was one little fellow in Uniontown who came running across a parking lot when he spotted SHORT. He was tripping over his mismatched slippers (one firetruck, one police car), yelling, “SHORT the Squirrel! SHORT the Squirrel! I saw you on TV!” and then barreling into SHORT’s big tummy with every ounce of energy he had. He said, “I’m reading every night just like you told me to!”
A little girl sent SHORT “fan mail” asking for a stuffed version of SHORT because she collects plushies and wanted one to celebrate making an 83 on her spelling test and over a 100 on her reading test. Another child saw SHORT in one of Mobile’s Mardi Gras children’s parades and was waving a piece of paper that turned out to be a homemade birthday card because they both share a February 22 birthday. The card was covered in book covers she had drawn that she thought SHORT would like to read, too.
Dee: And the list goes on and on, illustrating how SHORT is impacting many lives with his message to turn waiting time into reading time.
Are you in need of more volunteers? If so, how can readers get involved?
Monica: Yes! There is always room for volunteers in the SHORT world. The number one way is for people to consider being consistent volunteers at their local elementary school. Every child needs one-on-one reading experiences, and our educators cannot do it all alone!
Secondly, consider adding SHORT’s literacy kits (bagged with a booklet, activity sheet, stickers, and crayons) to businesses and community spaces where children are waiting for their adults. Take young readers off of the screen and give them a way to practice their literacy skills with our highly researched, literacy-building booklets that weave in critical thinking. We also have opportunities for corporate or civic club “stuffing parties” to prepare the kits!
What’s on the horizon for SHORT?
Monica: We are just finishing up an initiative to have Alabama’s children help “write” SHORT’s next book, Where SHORT Loves to Read. Since April is National Financial Literacy Month, we are continuing to partner with the Alabama Securities Commission (fun fact: they have elevated Alabama into the top 10 states with financial literacy education) for a fun combo of financial literacy and literacy with SHORT’s Money Tree. The plot focuses on SHORT’s wish list at the book fair. For many children, the book fair, a rite of passage for American education (and one of our favorite things!), suddenly turns reading into a have/have-not situation.
SHORT’s Money Tree demystifies money decisions in a very age-appropriate way. And, at the end of the book, the emerging reader decides what SHORT ends up doing about his book fair wish list!
Dee: We also just wrapped up SHORT’s fourth birthday celebration, reaching over 50,000 students with a virtual party. We are already in planning mode for his fifth birthday in 2025 in Talladega as he “Races to Read”!
As you inspire others to get involved with worthy causes, who or what inspires you?
Monica: We constantly say we are a support system for educators. Their jobs are getting more and more difficult. If you have a chance to celebrate or elevate a teacher, even with a random gift card for pizza delivery after a hard day, don’t miss that opportunity. Our teachers hold our entire country’s future in their hands.
Dee: We are also inspired every day by those who serve this generation of learners. The educators, youth leaders, coaches, and parents who work to make children’s lives better serve as encouragement to keep doing what we do. Together, we are working for a brighter future for tomorrow’s leaders.
What is your best piece of advice?
Monica: From Richard Edelman: Trust drives action, and action drives growth.
Dee: From Ralph Waldo Emerson: To leave the world a bit better and touch at least one life.
What are three things you can’t live without?
Monica: FaceTime (with family!), reading, and beautiful days outside.
Dee: A brisk walk around the neighborhood, morning coffee, and lipstick (L’Oreal 184, to be exact).
LIGHTNING ROUND
Last delicious local meal?
Monica: Sean’s Prime Dining in Fairhope, AL
Dee: Cajun Corner in Eufaula, AL
Favorite place to vacation?
Monica: I live in Baldwin County, Alabama, so local boating in our turquoise water against our white sand! #BaldwinProud
Dee: Any beach, anywhere, anytime!
Your go-to gift to give?
Monica: Surprise — books! Or Blinkies (a rare outdoor twinkling light made in Kernersville, NC)
Dee: Eufaula has the BEST hometown shop, Superior Pecans, which sells flavored pecans. I love sharing a little taste from home.
Book(s) on your bedside table?
Monica: Devotionals and my latest read. I just finished The Women by Kristin Hannah and started The Resort by Sara Ochs.
Dee: [There’s] always a leadership book. Currently, [I’m reading] How Full is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton. For fun, I am reading The Diaries of Elizabeth Rhodes, a book compiled from multiple diaries found at a historic home in Eufaula, Alabama.
All photos courtesy of Monica Anderson Young and Dr. Dee Dupree Bennett.
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Katie Leigh Matthews
A Birmingham native, Katie is a lifelong waterfall chaser and is passionate about the outdoors. She also loves connecting with remarkable women in the Birmingham community and bringing their stories to life. Katie has been writing professionally for over six years; you can find more of her work at Moms.com and Islands.com.