October 7, 2010 is the official date of the nation-wide campaign to set a new world record for the largest shared reading experience on a single day. The hope is to help draw attention to the growing crisis in early childhood education in America: Today half of children from low-income neighborhoods START school one-two years behind their peers. When these children start behind, they stay behind.
Presented in partnership with the Pearson Foundation, Jumpstart’s Read for the Record brings individuals together to show how this situation can be immediately improved. Last year, more than 2,000,000 children and adults helped set the current world record by taking part in one-day local events across the country. In the process, participants help spread the word that reading and engaging with a child before he or she even enters kindergarten can improve his or her chances of graduating from high school by as much as 30%!
This year, record-breakers will read The Snowy Day
by Ezra Jack Keats on October 7, 2010. Again this year, the day-long campaign will be kicked off on NBC’s TODAY show and will be followed by large and small reading events organized by individuals, schools, libraries, government organizations and local businesses nationwide. For the first time, participants can also help set the new world-record online, for free, at www.wegivebooks.org. To encourage participation, each time someone reads this classic story on October 7 at www.wegivebooks.org, the Pearson Foundation will donate a new children’s book to a pre-school classroom Jumpstart serves. To help spread the word in advance of the day’s effort, 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 October 7.Now in its fifth year, Jumpstart’s Read for the Record also celebrates the start of Jumpstart’s school year that helps prepare preschool children in low-income neighborhoods for success in kindergarten and life. Jumpstart’s year-round program connects children in need with trained adults who work with them year-round to ensure they enter school ready to succeed.
Anyone, anywhere can participate in Jumpstart’s Read for the Record by pledging to read at www.readfortherecord.org. The Snowy Day can be read online for free at www.wegivebooks.org. Learn more at www.readfortherecord.org.
About Jumpstart
Jumpstart’s mission is to ensure that all children in America enter school prepared to succeed. Year-round, Jumpstart recruits and trains thousands of college students and community volunteers to work with preschool children in low-income neighborhoods, helping them to develop the language, literacy, and social skills they need to succeed in school and in life. Since 1993, more than 70,000 preschool children across America have benefited from millions of hours of Jumpstart service. Jumpstart’s national sponsors include American Eagle Outfitters, AmeriCorps, Franklin Templeton Investments, and Pearson. Jumpstart is the five-time recipient of the Fast Company/Monitor Social Capitalist Award (2004-2008) and has received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator. For more information, visit the Jumpstart Web site at www.jstart.org.
About Jumpstart’s Read for the Record
Jumpstart’s Read for the Record™, presented in partnership with Pearson, is Jumpstart’s world record breaking campaign that brings children and adults together to read the same book, on the same day, in homes and communities all over the world. The campaign also kicks off Jumpstart’s yearlong program, preparing preschool children in low-income neighborhoods for success in school and life. Since it’s inception in 2006, the campaign has reached more than 3 million children and more than 750,000 books have been donated to children in low-income neighborhoods. In addition to Pearson, Jumpstart’s Read for the Record is further supported by Penguin Young Readers Group and 77kids by American Eagle. For more information, visit www.readfortherecord.org..
About the Pearson Foundation
Pearson, the international education and information company, is Jumpstart’s Read for the Record’s Sponsor and Founding Partner. 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. The Foundation aims to make a difference by sponsoring innovative educational programs and extending its educational expertise to help in classrooms and in local communities. For more information, visit www.pearsonfoundation.org.
About We Give Books
We Give Books (www.wegivebooks.org) is a new philanthropic program from Penguin and the Pearson Foundation that helps your child become a lifelong reader and giver. Together, we support literacy through programs that engage entire communities. Working around the world through programs like Booktime and Jumpstart’s Read for the Record, Penguin and the Pearson Foundation have touched millions of lives in thousands of communities.
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