Houston Reads Day to Celebrate Dr. Seuss’s Birthday, Address Literacy Crisis with Houston Texans Legends and HISD Superintendent, Millard House II
WHEN: Thursday, March 2, 2023
Coincides with Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss’s birthday.
9:30am – 11:30am – Interviews are available beginning at 10:00am
WHERE: Bruce Elementary School, 510 Jensen Drive, Houston, Texas 77020
WHO: Jacque Daughtry, CEO, Literacy Now
HISD Superintendent Millard House II
Shawn Nickerson, PhD., Principal, Bruce Elementary School
Houston Texans Legends Wade Smith and ND Kalu and Texans cheerleaders
WHAT: Houston Texans Legends and Cheerleaders will join HISD Superintendent Millard House II and more than 350 volunteers across Houston for Literacy Now’s Houston Reads Day, a day dedicated to reading to 14,000 Pre-K through 3rd grade students at 35 schools in Houston ISD and Aldine ISD. As part of this, the Houston Texans are teaming up with Dr. Seuss Enterprises and Creative Minds Publications for the 7th annual Tackle Reading event in celebration of Dr. Seuss’s 119th birthday. On March 2, Bruce Elementary School will serve as the “hub” for Houston Reads Day and Tackle Reading, featuring a special appearance by the Fan Jam Truck, celebrating the 2023 NCAA Men’s Final Four National Championship, and a reading of a Dr. Seuss book by a Houston Texans Legend.
Houston Reads Day will support Literacy Now’s expansion to serve more young struggling readers and bring awareness to the literacy crisis in our city. Literacy Now supports children and their families throughout Houston with their overarching goal to empower students to read on grade level by the end of third grade, thereby increasing the likelihood that children will graduate from high school and be ready to pursue postsecondary goals.
Each year, 60 percent of Houston children enter kindergarten lacking the vital pre-reading skills to succeed. For students already in elementary school, only 27 percent of third graders read at grade level according to the Texas Education Agency. Over the past two years, Houston Reads Day has raised more than $1.4M allowing the organization to double the number of schools they provide their critical Reading Intervention to, representing a 134 percent growth in the number of students served.
Tackle Reading events are assembly-style celebrations designed to inspire children at underserved schools to fall in love with reading. At each of the events across the U.S., a current or alumnus NFL player will read a beloved Dr. Seuss book at a school-wide assembly. Students will have the opportunity to hear motivational messages directly from the NFL athletes and ask them questions. In addition, the school will receive a diverse collection of Random House Children’s Books titles, while every student will receive a Dr. Seuss book from Random House Children’s Books and Dr. Seuss school supplies from GEDDES, and every teacher will be given a Dr. Seuss t-shirt from Life is Good and a Cat in the Hat-style hat from Fun.com.