April 23, 1996
Dear School Reading Supporter:In my third annual State of American Education address, I posed this challenge to all Americans: "If we are to make the most of our opportunities in this new education era, we must get into high gear and "fast forward" what we are doing." Such "fast forwarding" requires that all Americans join together in the effort to educate our children. It means that we must ensure that Americans -- especially our children -- are a literate and reading people.
You are playing a major role in this effort by helping children who need that help most. You understand the importance of reading not only during the school year, but especially in the summer when many children lose reading skills. Joining forces for education, we can find common solutions to common problems. In that spirit, I am pleased to announce a new, summer reading partnership, READ*WRITE*NOW!, sponsored by the U. S. Department of Education, the American Library Association, Reading is Fundamental, Pizza Hut, and others. You will find a flyer for the READ*WRITE*NOW! summer reading challenge on the back of this letter.
All you need to arrange a READ*WRITE*NOW! summer program is children, reading partners, and books. Reading partners (librarians, families, teenagers, caring neighbors) meet once or twice a week with young readers for 30 minutes of reading and writing fun, and encourage children to read and write at home five days a week.
READ*WRITE*NOW! materials include an activities booklet for children to use in summer and year-round programs, a reading log, bookmarks, and a certificate of achievement (color and black and white kits). Your school and community partners are invited to copy the materials from our black and white version, since supplies are limited. Each public library will receive around 40 copies of the color READ*WRITE*NOW! kit by June 1, as well as a black and white READ*WRITE*NOW! kit that can be loaned to families, schools, and community members for further duplication. Additional copies of READ*WRITE*NOW! may be accessed through the Internet (http://www.ed.gov), or the Department's toll-free number 1-800-USA-LEARN (while supplies last).
America's schools are a natural partner for READ*WRITE*NOW! We encourage your school to participate in the program.
Yours sincerely,
Richard W. Riley
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