Inaugural reading event marks the start of Read Aloud Month
Yesterday, volunteers from across Houston came together to read to thousands of K-3rd grade students across HISD for the inaugural Houston Reads Day. Hosted by local non-profit Literacy Now and presented by Castex Foundation, Houston Reads Day was a dedicated day for Houstonians to come together to read to students, support Literacy Now’s expansion, and bring awareness to the literacy crisis in our city.
Due to COVID-19 safety recommendations, this year’s Houston Reads Day took place virtually, with volunteers reading remotely to assigned classrooms for 15 minutes each. The local event coincided with National Read Across America Day and kicked off Read Aloud Month. In addition, Literacy Now will be donating 25 books to each participating school’s library totaling 625 books across all 25 HISD campuses. More than $427,000 was raised in support of Literacy Now’s five-year expansion plan.
Guest readers for the event included April Salazar, local children’s book author; J Elle, local young adult author; Adrian Garcia, Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner; Wanda Adams, Justice of the Peace and former HISD Trustee; and TORO Texans Mascot and Texans Cheerleader.
“We are beyond thrilled at the impact we were able to make for our first Houston Reads Day,” said Jacque Daughtry, Executive Director of Literacy Now. “I want to send a personal thank you to our volunteer readers, our participating campuses, and the HISD VIPS team who made this event happen, as well as those who supported us by spreading the word and donating to Literacy Now. We look forward to continuing to make a positive social impact on Houston’s students and families for years to come while empowering kids to read.”
In Houston, 41 percent of young children are not ready for kindergarten, and 63 percent of third graders do not read at grade level. Literacy Now (formerly Making It Better) works directly with Houston Independent School District and on community sites throughout the city to provide reading readiness and reading intervention programs to support children in at-risk situations. Founded in 2006, Literacy Now’s programs have impacted more than 19,000 children and parents in Houston to date.
In 2020, Literacy Now launched a five-year expansion plan to reach more of Houston’s children. Since its inception, Literacy Now has grown from serving one school with 91 students to serving 2,400 students and parents across 10 HISD campuses and community sites through all programs. Its primary program, Reading Intervention, provides individualized, small group reading tutorials for at-risk students in grades K-2 to create proficient readers by the end of 3rd grade. The organization aims to increase the total number of schools served to 45 and the number of Reading Intervention students to 2,880 by 2024.
For more information on Literacy Now, visit www.literacynowhouston.org.
