Literacy Coalition’s Local Read for the Record Reaches Thousands in PBC
Same Book Read to Children Countywide on Same Day “With Lots of Love”
Winners of Friendly Read for the Record Municipality Competition Announced
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County
Kristin Calder, CEO
561-635-8243
Kcalder@LiteracyPBC.org
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla., Nov. 30, 2023 — With generous support from PNC Grow Up Great®, PNC’s nearly 20-year bilingual early childhood education initiative, the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County provided 1,100 copies of this year’s Read for the Record book, With Lots of Love by Jenny Torres Sanchez, to hundreds of childcare centers, elementary school libraries, municipal leaders, and community volunteers to read to students and children throughout the county on October 26. With Lots of Love is a story about family, finding ways to stay connected, and sharing love across distances.
This is the 18th year the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County has hosted and coordinated Read for the Record Day locally. The initiative is part of Jumpstart’s national Read for the Record campaign. The mission is to raise awareness around the importance of early literacy and access to inclusive literature that fosters belonging and connection by reflecting children’s own experiences and showing the experiences of others.
With copies of the book provided by the Coalition:
- 475 leaders and staff members from 23 municipalities read to 21,147 children at 144 childcare centers and elementary schools. The municipalities competed to see who could read the book to more children.
And the winners are…- Read for the Record Large Municipality Winner: Wellington
- Read for the Record Mid-Size Municipality Winner: Village of Palm Springs
- Read for the Record Small Municipality Winner: Town of Lantana
- An additional 171 community volunteers read the book to 5,549 children at 32 childcare centers and elementary schools.
- All told 646 municipal and community volunteers read to 26,966 students at 176 elementary schools and childcare centers throughout Palm Beach County.
Additionally, 35 children from Atkins Childcare Center in Riviera Beach and the Literacy Coalition’s Glades Family Education Program attended a Read for the Record special event at the Coalition’s Blume Center for Education in Boynton Beach.
“PNC is proud to join the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County in bringing this event to our community and highlighting the critical importance of early literacy,” said Cressman Bronson, PNC regional president for Southeast Florida. “Research shows that children who enter the K-12 system ready to learn are more likely to succeed in school and life. Reading is the key to that success and creates a foundation for learning that lasts a lifetime.”
For more information about the Coalition and the literacy programs it provides, please visit www.literacypbc.org or call 561-279-9103.
About the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County
A recipient of the coveted 4-star Charity Navigator rating for 14 consecutive years, the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County works to improve the quality of life in our community by promoting and achieving literacy. In Palm Beach County, more than half of all third graders are not reading on grade level and 22% of adults aged 16 and older lack basic literacy skills and can’t fill out a job application or read a bus schedule. Through extensive outreach and collaboration with a network of community partners, the Literacy Coalition strives to ensure that individuals who need to improve their literacy skills receive the help they need. By providing services to 55,967 adults, children and families each year, the Literacy Coalition’s goal is for every child and every adult in Palm Beach County to be able to read.
