FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
“Reading Revolution” Program Highlighted at Read Across America Day
Phoenix, Arizona, March 2, 2012: Denise Gary, Executive Director of Kids Need to Read, will be presenting the next phase of the “Reading Revolution” program to the students of ASU Preparatory Academy. Kids Need to Read will be celebrating Read Across America Day by providing a copy of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey to each middle school student, as well as copies for the library. Denise Gary will be speaking to the students on the topic of self-image and overcoming adversity.
Kids Need to Read has partnered with Arizona State University and ASU Preparatory Academy to develop Reading Revolution, a unique and engaging program that aims to increase literacy skills, foster ambitions for the future, and reduce dropout rates among disadvantaged adolescents. Kids Need to Read, supported by several private foundations, provides project support and the resources necessary to carry out the program.
Reading Revolution connects middle school students to life and literacy through innovative approaches by offering several units of study over a two year period. This program impacts 142 students at ASU Preparatory Academy. Many of their students (83% below poverty level) have entered the school with exceptionally low literacy skills. The program compliments school efforts to increase the reading skills of their student body.
Preliminary tests conducted after the first semester indicated a significant increase in reading scores among the students in the program, as compared to the rest of the student body. ASU Preparatory Academy will provide ongoing research on affected literacy rates so that Kids Need to Read might offer research proven methods of increasing skills while decreasing dropouts.
Kids Need to Read works to create a culture of reading for children by providing inspiring books to underfunded schools, libraries, and literacy programs across the United States, especially those serving disadvantaged children.
Contact:
Denise Gary, Executive Director
Kids Need to Read
Email: denise@kidsneedtoread.org
Tel: 480-256-0115
Website: http://www.kidsneedtoread.org/readingrevolution.html
