The San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools (SBCSS) annual Reading Rally took place from Feb. 28 to March 4.
“Promoting reading isn’t just about literacy, it’s about equity,” said County Superintendent Ted Alejandre. “Reading proficiency by the third grade is one of the greatest predictors of success. Ensuring all San Bernardino County students are hitting that mark can give them the best possible start on their educational journey.”
The event supports the countywide Vision2Read, which aims to raise the bar on literacy in San Bernardino County.
At the start of the week, SBCSS launched a digital library of recorded read-aloud books for children in both English and Spanish.
On March 1, SBCSS hosted a community book donation collection. The book drive supports California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond’s statewide effort to provide one million books for students and their families.
The event also served to commemorate Read Across America Day, a national celebration of reading, which takes place each year on March 2. The day was established by the National Education Association (NEA) in 1998 to bolster a love of reading. This year’s NEA theme is “celebrating a nation of diverse readers.”
Throughout the weeklong event, SBCSS held several teacher and family literacy workshops.
County Superintendent Alejandre and other SBCSS staff members attended local literacy assemblies and read to students, both in-person and virtually.
The celebratory week culminated in a virtual student literacy assembly with Eric Litwin. Litwin is a singer and award-winning author who brings early literacy and music together. He is the original author of the Pete the Cat series as well as the author of The Nuts and Groovy Joe.
To access literacy resources, including the digital library, please visit https://bit.ly/3suXYv7.
Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre, Child Care Resource Center, Scholastic Education, Literacy Empowerment Foundation, and Lakeshore Learning provided generous donations of books. SBCSS staff members and members of the community also contributed books to San Bernardino County students.
Volunteers provided recorded “read alouds” which were added to an SBCSS digital library. School districts within the region and California State University San Bernardino provided support for reading events.
For more news and information, visit the SBCSS Newsroom and follow us @SBCountySchools on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. #transforminglives.
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