Everybody Wins When Reading to Kids
It's been proven that reading to kids helps with development. Time-starved adults don't always have the time to read to their kids or family members, never mind volunteer to read to other kids they aren't related to. Sometimes, folks just need a nudge or someone to help them realize the importance of doing so simple that goes such a long way.
Enter Everybody Wins!
Recently, Technorati sat down with the National Executive Director of Everybody Wins!, Richard Greif, to talk about the importance of reading to kids and the mission of their organization.
TR: Tell me a little bit Everybody Wins! and the mission of your organization.
Greif: Everybody Wins! builds the skills and love of reading among low-income elementary students and was recently cited by the White House as an “innovative and successful community solution.” Through our signature program, Power Lunch, Everybody Wins! brings volunteer mentors into schools for weekly one-on-one, read-aloud sessions, increasing children’s opportunities for academic and real-world success. Everybody Wins! currently serves nearly 20,000 children and adults through affiliates and partners in 16 states and Washington, DC.TR: How are you leveraging social media to build awareness of your organization?
Everybody Wins! extensively uses Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and our blog to build awareness for children's literacy and the importance of reading to children.
By being a leading advocate for reading to children, social media has enabled us to connect with educators, authors, nonprofits, associations, publishers, businesses and individuals who share our passion for reading to children.
As a result, Everybody Wins! has been able to leverage its following to be a featured TwitCause this past fall, a top idea in the recent Pepsi Refresh Project and now a featured Idea for Change on Change.org's Idea for Change in America campaign. Social media is an extremely important awareness and relationship-building strategy for us.
TR: It's been well document that reading to kids is an important part of their development. What are some things that people might not know about reading to kids?
Nearly 50% of low-income children in the U.S. cannot read at a basic level.
Children who cannot read are more likely to drop out of school, be unemployed and commit crimes. We know that the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children and we know there is a direct correlation between the number of words a child hears and their ability to succeed in school.
Yet many low-income children come to elementary school at a disadvantage because they were not read to at home; did not have access to books; or do not have parents that are literate themselves. But children can learn how to read, and by reading aloud with them one-on-one consistently, we can help bridge the literacy gap.
TR: How can people get involved?
People can learn more about ways to get involved with Everybody Wins! at www.everybodywins.org or watch our YouTube video. We have also proposed to launch a national Read to Kids campaign as part of Change.org's Ideas for Change campaign. People can vote for the Read to Kids campaign anytime between Monday, March 1st at 1pm ET and Friday, March 12th at 5pm ET at http://www.change.org/ideas/view/launch_a_national_read_to_kids_campaign.
Photo Credit: Everybody Wins!
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