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Posted May 4th, 2009 by rthomas

Summer Reading Challenge
 

Reading Ambassadors

 

AT A GLANCE
What is it?

A literacy program by Scholastic and supported by Governors' Spouses to encourage children in their respective states to read every day, especially during the summer months.

Why Summer Reading?

Research shows that regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic level, or previous achievement, children who read over the summer months are less likely to suffer from the “Summer Slide” – the learning or reading losses that take place during the long break from school.

Visit the Summer Reading Site

www.scholastic.com/summer

Lia Zneimer
lzneimer@scholastic.com
(212) 343-6901

"Children reading--or parents reading to, and with, children--is the single most important activity to develop knowledge, skills, and comprehension. Reading is enjoyable, develops closer bonds with parents, and expands the mind beyond our own world."

— 2012 Reading Ambassador Sally Ganem, First Lady of Nebraska and Chairwoman of the Spouses' Leadership Committee for the National Governors Association

Press Releases

Scholastic Summer Challenge Online Press Kit

What do Reading Ambassadors do?

The Scholastic Summer Challenge Reading Ambassadors Program invites U.S. Governors’ Spouses to emphasize the importance of literacy for all children in their respective states. For the past four years, Governors’ Spouses have come together as Reading Ambassadors of the Scholastic Summer Challenge to send a powerful message to the students, educators, and parents in their states about the importance of reading over the summer months.

The Reading Ambassadors play an integral part in the Scholastic Summer Challenge. By pledging to reinforce the importance of summer reading—and the majority committing to hold summer reading events at a local school or library in their state—the Reading Ambassadors help slow the “Summer Slide” – the learning losses that occur during the summer months when school is not in session.

Reading Ambassadors support families and schools in their states by:

  • Sending a message that summer reading is critical to our children’s success;
  • Making the home-to-school connection during the transitional summer months;
  • Putting books directly into the hands of children who may not otherwise have access;
  • Encouraging students and families to read every day.

Downloads

2012 Highlights from the Scholastic Summer Challenge Reading Ambassadors Program

  • Over the past four summers, the participation of the Governors' Spouses in the Scholastic Summer Challenge has resulted in more than 86,000 books being donated to children across the continental U.S. and its outlying territories.
  • In the summer of 2012, 48 Governors' Spouses and 3 Governors signed on as Reading Ambassadors, donating 25,500 books to schools nationwide.
  • "The kids were so excited to have a nice, new book to take home with them.' - Executive Assistant to the First Lady of Tennessee
  • "To see those little faces light up when you read to them and then when you are able to give them a book to take home for their very own...How exciting is that?" - Executive Assistant to the First Lady of West Virginia

2012 Reading Ambassadors

  • Alabama – First Lady Dianne Bentley
  • Alaska – First Lady Sandy Parnell
  • American Samoa – First Lady Mary Ann Tulafono
  • Arizona – Governor Jan Brewer
  • Arkansas – First Lady Ginger Beebe
  • California – First Lady Anne Brown
  • Colorado – First Lady Helen Thorpe
  • Connecticut – First Lady Cathy Malloy
  • Delaware – First Lady Carla Markell
  • Florida – First Lady Ann Scott
  • Georgia – First Lady Sandra Deal
  • Guam – First Lady Christine Calvo
  • Hawaii – First Lady Dr. Nancie Caraway
  • Idaho – First Lady Lori Otter
  • Illinois – Governor Pat Quinn
  • Indiana – First Lady Cheri Daniels
  • Iowa – First Lady Christine Branstad
  • Kansas – First Lady Mary Brownback
  • Kentucky – First Lady Jane Beshear
  • Louisiana – First Lady Supriya Jindal
  • Maine – First Lady Ann LePage
  • Maryland – First Lady Katie O’Malley
  • Massachusetts – First Lady Diane Patrick
  • Michigan – First Lady Sue Snyder
  • Mississippi – First Lady Deborah Bryant
  • Missouri – First Lady Georganne Nixon
  • Montana – First Lady Nancy Schweitzer
  • Nebraska – First Lady Sally Ganem
  • Nevada – First Lady Kathleen Sandoval
  • New Hampshire – First Lady Dr. Susan Lynch
  • New Jersey – First Lady Mary Pat Christie
  • New Mexico - First Gentleman Chuck Franco
  • North Carolina – First Gentleman Robert Eaves
  • North Dakota – First Lady Betsy Dalrymple
  • Ohio – First Lady Karen Kasich
  • Oklahoma – First Gentleman Wade Christensen
  • Pennsylvania – First Lady Susan Corbett
  • Puerto Rico – First Lady Luce Vela
  • Rhode Island – First Lady Stephanie Chafee
  • South Carolina – First Gentleman Michael Haley
  • South Dakota – First Lady Linda Daugaard
  • St. Thomas Virgin Islands – First Lady Cecile de Jongh
  • Tennessee – First Lady Crissy Haslam
  • Texas – First Lady Anita Perry
  • Utah – First Lady Jeanette Herbert
  • Vermont – Governor Peter Shumlin
  • Virginia – First Lady Maureen McDonnell
  • Washington – First Gentleman Mike Gregoire
  • West Virginia – First Lady Joanne Tomblin
  • Wisconsin – First Lady Tonette Walker
  • Wyoming – First Lady Carol Mead

2012 Summer Reading Event Photos

First Gentleman Mike Gregoire
First Gentleman Mike Gregoire reads to students at an elementary school in Snoqualmie, WA.
 

First Lady Supriya Jindal
First Lady Supriya Jindal visits an elementary school in Alexandria, LA to read to students.
 

First Gentleman Bob Eaves
First Gentleman Bob Eaves pays a visit to an elementary school in Shelby, NC.
 

First Lady Georganne Nixon
First Lady Georganne Nixon reads to students at an elementary school in Boonville, MO.