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Grand Island Public Schools participating in Jumpstart's Read for the Record
Grand Island Public Schools will celebrate Jumpstart's Read for the Record on Thursday, Oct. 7.
The goal of this year's nationwide campaign is to set a new world record for the largest shared reading experience on a single day.
Read for the Record is a national campaign in its fifth year designed to break the cycle of illiteracy and to draw attention to the growing crisis in early childhood education in America. Today, half of children from low-income neighborhoods start school one to two years behind their peers.
Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers will read "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats to students in their classrooms. The Pearson Foundation donated 80 copies of the book to the school district, which first participated in Read for the Record in 2009.
Grand Island Public Schools has approximately 411 pre-kindergarten students and 782 kindergarten students.
Jumpstart -- through Jumpstart's Read for the Record Campaign and intensive early education programs -- puts books in the homes of children who need them most and focuses on helping them make gains in crucial language and literacy skills. Last year, more than 2 million children and adults helped set the current world record by taking part in one-day local events across the country.
The Pearson Foundation, sponsor and founding partner of the campaign, is once again underwriting the cost of "The Snowy Day." The Pearson Foundation is also helping to organize events nationwide with governors, mayors, school districts, and other community organizations.
The activities are designed to generate public awareness about the importance of early childhood education. Shared reading experiences can range from an adult and child reading in their home to large group events with hundreds of people gathering at public facilities for community reading sessions.
For the first time, participants can also help set the new world record online, for free, at www.wegivebooks.org. Every time someone reads this classic story on Oct. 7 from the website, the Pearson Foundation will donate a new childrenís book to a preschool classroom Jumpstart serves. Similarly, the Pearson Foundation is similarly donating a copy of "The Snowy Day" to a child in need each time someone reads the book online in advance of Oct. 7.
Jumpstart's mission is to ensure that all children in America enter school prepared to succeed. Year-round, Jumpstart recruits and trains thousands of people to work one-to-one with children in low-income communities, helping preschoolers develop the language, literacy, and social skills they need to succeed in school and in life. Since 1993, thousands of Jumpstart mentors have helped more than 70,000 children from low-income communities around the country enter school ready to learn at grade level. To find out more, visit http://www.jstart.org.
The Pearson Foundation extends Pearson's commitment to education by partnering with leading nonprofit, civic, and business organizations to provide financial, organizational, and publishing assistance across the globe. In 2006, Pearson and its businesses (The Financial Times Group, The Penguin Group, and Pearson Education) became the sponsor and founding partner of Jumpstart's Read for the Record.
We Give Books (www.wegivebooks.org) is a new philanthropic program from Penguin and the Pearson Foundation that helps children become lifelong readers and givers.
For more information, contact: Deb Harder, Elementary Teaching and Learning Director, Grand Island Public Schools, (308) 385-5900, dharder@gips.org; Pam Dobrovolny, Early Childhood Supervisor, Early Learning Center, 4360 W. Capital Ave., (308) 385-5655, pdobrovo@gips.org
It is the policy of the Grand Island Public Schools not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, handicap, religion, or marital status in its educational programs, activities or employment policies as required by Title VI, Title IX, &Section 504.EOE/AA.