Huerta to promote Jumpstart’s campaign for early literacy and celebrate the power of reading
September 18, 2018 (BOSTON) — Jumpstart is pleased to announce legendary labor organizer and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, Dolores Huerta, as the official Literacy Champion for Jumpstart’s 13th annual Read for the Record campaign. Read for the Record is a global effort to raise awareness about the need for high-quality early learning for all children and the transformative power of books and reading to impact student learning and engagement.
Huerta joins past celebrity ambassadors Josh Duhamel, Bridget Moynahan, Nigel Barker, LL Cool J, Maya Angelou, Mandy Moore, Julianna Margulies, and others, in supporting this 24-hour celebration which, since 2006, has mobilized more than 19 million people in support of early education and literacy.
“Before I was an organizer, I was a teacher,” says Huerta. “I know first-hand that reading with young children at home prepares them for success in school and beyond. I am pleased that this year’s Read for the Record book selection, Maybe Something Beautiful, is available in a Spanish-language version as well as an English-language version. This gives Spanish-speaking adults the opportunity to read to children in a language in which they have the greatest fluency, and for their children to develop a love for books and learning.”
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers, this year’s book selection, Maybe Something Beautiful, and in Spanish, Quizás algo hermoso, by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell, and illustrated by Rafael López, celebrates the magic that can happen when a community comes together to create something beautiful and bring about change.
“Read for the Record highlights the importance of adults reading aloud with children,” explains Naila Bolus, President and CEO of Jumpstart. “We are honored to have Dolores Huerta as our Literacy Champion, and we are especially thrilled to have a bilingual Literacy Champion helping us to celebrate the power of shared reading across cultures and languages.”
The Read for the Record campaign culminates on October 25, 2018, when people across the country (and globe) will come together to celebrate Read for the Record Day by reading Maybe Something Beautiful to young children in their communities, all as part of an attempt to beat the world record for most people reading the same book on the same day.
To learn more about Jumpstart’s Read for the Record, visit readfortherecord.org.
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ABOUT JUMPSTART
Jumpstart is a national early education organization working toward the day every child in America enters kindergarten prepared to succeed. By participating in Jumpstart’s yearlong program, children develop the language, literacy, and social and emotional skills they need to be ready for school, setting them on a path for lifelong success. Since 1993, Jumpstart has trained 47,500 college students and community volunteers to transform the lives of over 110,000 preschool children nationwide. Jumpstart is a proud member of the AmeriCorps service network. Learn more at jstart.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @Jumpstartkids.
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