St. Thomas-St. John District has announced its participation in the 2009 Jumpstart’s Read for the Record® national campaign. Annually, thousands of children and adults are encouraged to read the same book on the same day. This year, on Thursday, Oct. 8,students, teachers, parents and other education stakeholders are encouraged to read the book, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” toward increasing public awareness about the early education gap that exists between income levels, according to a press release from St. Thomas-St. John Superintendent of Schools Jeanette Smith-Barry.
“Each year, one-third of America’s children arrive at their first day of school developmentally lacking in comparison to their peers and without the skills necessary to succeed at grade level. When children begin behind their peers, it is difficult to catch up without additional assistance,” said District Primary Grades coordinator April Munroe-Phillips. “Children who miss out on key cognitive, social and emotional experiences are more likely to repeat grades, drop out of school and engage in criminal activity. To help children from lower-income communities advance academically at pace with their classmates, Jumpstart recruits and trains adult mentors to work one-to-one with the children and help build their reading, language and social skills.” Munroe-Phillips encourages everyone across the community to join the event and help to break the record set in 2008 for the largest shared reading experience.
The books have been donated to the district’s kindergarten classrooms by the Pearson Foundation. Additionally, Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Southland Gaming VI have made it possible for the kindergarten students to add “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”to their personal home libraries.
For more information and to participate, contact April Munroe-Phillips at 775-2250, ext. 8525 or the child’s school.