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Sit Down to READ. Stand Up for CHILDREN
Tuesday - November 15, 2011
In 2006, the first Jumpstart's Read for the Record campaign was launched with the Pearson Foundation. The objective of the Read for the Record campaign is to set a new world record every year for reading the same book on the same day, and in the process, we create a national forum for concerned citizens to voice their support: Sit down to read. Stand up for children.
Each campaign year, people have joined together to break the world record by reading classic stories: The Little Engine That Could (2006), The Story of Ferdinand (2007), Corduroy (2008), The Very Hungry Caterpillar (2009), and The Snowy Day (2010). During the 2010 campaign, Jumpstart read with 2,057,513 children, creating the largest shared reading experience in history! On October 6, 2011, during the sixth annual Read for the Record day, people around the globe helped set a new world record by reading to 2,184,155 children around the world!
In the Atlanta metro region alone, PACE touched the lives of almost 15,000 children through events at individual hub sites combined. Coweta County Public Schools read to 10,000 children throughout the county while Butts County reported reading to over 2,100 children county-wide. The local newspaper is slated to publish an article and pictures of Sheriff Gene Pope reading to children at the Butts County Public Schools signature event at the Jackson Library.
Approximately 80 Read for the Record volunteers fanned out across Rockdale County to read Llama Llama Red Pajama to an estimated 1,100 pre-k and kindergarten students in public and private early learning classrooms. Each year, Rockdale County hosts its Read for the Record campaign after other PACE hubs, because the county’s fall break occurs on the national observance date. Nonetheless, volunteer readers consistently give the event high marks for its “fun factor” and effectiveness at underscoring the importance of early literacy.
In Cobb county, almost 350 children benefitted from the work of PACE, Franklin Road Weed and Seed and Austell Community Taskforce. Specifically, Franklin Road Weed and Seed read Llama Llama Red Pajama to over 300 children at four different preschools in Marietta with the aid of United Way volunteers. The children were enthusiastic and very responsive to the story and some even wore their special pajamas. Franklin Road held an evening Pajama Party which was coordinated by rising parent leaders who were inspired from 2010 Parent Leadership Institute in Gwinnett county.
The original SPARK counties of Gwinnett and DeKalb are pioneers of the early literacy movement and work diligently every year to make Read for the Record a success in their community. In Gwinnett, Families First Parent Educators - Clara Herrera and Soledad Ruiz - managed various simultaneous community events on October 6th resulting in approximately 600 children receiving the benefits of parents engaging them through reading. In DeKalb county, Scottdale Child Development Center and Refugee Family Services read to 150 children combined. Scottdale chose to read the signature book online with their 2 & 3 year old classes – which showcased a new and innovative way of story-telling. Overall, all PACE sites used parent educators, volunteers, community events and most importantly, parents to help deliver the Jumpstart message of Sit down to read. Stand up for children.