PHILADELPHIA READS

<div>A unique literacy initiative that gives students their first glimpse of the corporate world. Public school students are tutored weekly at&nbsp;local business offices by&nbsp;corporate volunteers to improve reading skills and to show them where&nbsp;a good education can lead.</div> <div > <div >These volunteers are making a difference: low achieving readers involved in an hour of reading daily advance an average of&nbsp;one and 1/2 years in reading level in one school year. <div>&nbsp;</div> <div >In the 12 years of this program our Corporate Power Partners have provided Philadelphia classrooms with over $400,000 of books.</div> <div ><br />Current Power Partners:<br />Ballard Spahr LLP, Bank of America, Blank Rome, &nbsp;City Hall,&nbsp;Dechert Law, Drinker Biddle &amp; Reath LLP, Duane Morris LLP, Elsevier, EPA- Office of Communications and Government Relations, Exelon Business Services, First Judicial District- Common Pleas Court, Independence Blue Cross, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins Wolterskluer, Montgomery, McCracken, Walker &amp; Rhoads LLP, National Board of Medical Examiners, Pepper Hamilton LLP; Philadelphia Eagles Youth Partnership, PNC- Center City, PNC- Eastwick, PNC- N.J., Prudential Financial, Reed Smith LLP, The Dow Chemical Co/Rohm &amp; Haas, Saul Ewing LLP, SCA Americas, School District of Philadelphia, US Attorney's Office, and the US Court of Appeals.&nbsp; </div></div></div>

<p align="left"></p> <p>Summer Reads is a 20-hour-a week program that provides an enriching summer learning experience that keeps kids engaged in reading, science, writing, art, music and civics.</p> <p>The SUMMER READS curriculum, "Growing Peaceful Communities", is inserted into Philadelphia summer camps -- and at EducationWorks centers -- that do not have an educational or arts component.</p> <p>A feature of SUMMER READS is the inclusion of an outstanding arts program presented by professionals in art, music, drama and dance. Children are engaged through the assistance of visiting art and music instructors from The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Academy of Community Music, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, Philadanco and other dance and music instructors, while simultaneously completing hands-on science instruction.</p> <p>Moreover, SUMMER READS distributes 6,800 books to children every summer, takes them to libraries and on field trips, gives them art supplies, science kits and musical instruments. </p> <div>All with purpose: to give Philadelphia&#8217;s youth a rich, fun, summer learning experience, to foster a love for reading, to improve literacy skills and to bridge the achievement gap.</div> <div>&nbsp;&nbsp; </div> <div> <p >It should be known that Summer READS was a winner of the &#8220;<em >Coming up Taller&#8221; </em>Award from the President&#8217;s Committee on Arts and Humanities. The award was presented at the White House by then first lady Laura Bush in January of 2008 and is given to after school and out of school educational programs with an arts and humanities focus.&nbsp;Only 15 groups throughout the country win this award yearly. </p></div>

<p >PHILADELPHIA READS partners with the Free Library, The School District of Philadelphia and the Archdiocese to organize and implement the Reading Olympics The goals are to promote reading, comprehension, teamwork and fun and to promote the importance of teamwork in an atmosphere of friendly competition. At the same time, students are exposed to quality literature and enjoy the excitement of an academic competition that is designed to increase self-confidence, school spirit and provide children with a sense of accomplishment. A side benefit is to have children become life-long and enthusiastic readers, thus helping to make Philadelphia a city of readers.&nbsp;</p> <p >The target audience is students in grades 4-8. (1700 participated in 2010)&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;The students read twenty novels as a team and then compete to test their knowledge of these books.&nbsp;The program promotes a love of books.&nbsp;It not only encourages good readers to become a part of a team, but allows students who are interested to become involved no matter what their reading ability. The teams represent public, parochial, private and charter schools as well as after school programs.&nbsp;The Olympics are usually held the second week in May when most universities are out as we use their facilities for the competition. &nbsp;The competition involves teams coming to consensus to answer questions about each of the titles on the list.&nbsp;For each question answered correctly teams are awarded a point.&nbsp;The points accumulate to earn the team a blue, red or green ribbon.&nbsp;The ribbon and a beautiful certificate are presented at an award ceremony held at the end of the event.&nbsp;Every team is a winner and so is every child.</p> <p >Even though the competition itself is in May, it takes a year to prepare for this program which runs over seven days. (A timeline is listed below) The booklist is carefully chosen by a group of educators and librarians beginning in July.&nbsp;The books are carefully selected to reflect the diversity of the student population, to include a variety of genres, and a wide range of reading ability.&nbsp;Perhaps, most importantly, the books are chosen because of their appeal to children.&nbsp;The assortment of titles in the booklist offers something of interest to every reader which we hope will encourage children to become lifelong readers.&nbsp;</p> <p >In preparation for the event team members learn to work collaboratively as they share their knowledge of the books they have read to help their team earn points during the competition.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p>

<p>PHILADELPHIA READS Children&#8217;s Book Bank is housed at the Martin Luther King High School. This location was established in 2005 with the help of Foundation, Inc., the School District of Philadelphia and IKEA who provided some of the shelving. The purpose of this Book Bank is to enhance classroom libraries in the Philadelphia public and parochial schools by providing free &#8220;gently&#8221; used or new books for students in grades Pre-K through grade 8.&nbsp;The Book Bank is also opened to community centers and faith-based organizations in Philadelphia that offer literacy support programs. Teachers and program directors can come regularly to take up to 300 free books. Books are collected through the generosity of businesses and organizations that run community book drives in partnership with PHILADELPHIA READS as well as other socially conscious individuals.&nbsp;Truly a treasure trove for teachers, the PHILADELPHIA READS&#8217; Book Bank is the only one of its kind to provide this unique service to teachers. The PHILADELPHIA READS&#8217; Book Bank is opened for teachers once a week from 2:30 P.M to 5:30 P.M. and by appointment on other days.&nbsp;During the first year of operation, over 108,000 books were distributed to over 50,000 students. Through the tireless efforts of the PHILADELPHIA READS staff, the Book Bank currently houses approximately 50,000 books.&nbsp;&nbsp; Books collected from community book drives are either brought to the book bank or are picked up by our coordinator and/or work-study students. The coordinator and student volunteers categorize and shelve the books.&nbsp;Incentives for reading are also available for teachers to use to motivate students to read more.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p>