CONTACT:
Josephine Djonovic, Scholastic, 212-343-6876, jdjonovic@scholastic.com
Alexandra Wladich, Scholastic, 212-965-7353, awladich@scholastic.com

NEW YORK – June 15, 2017 – According to research from the Kids & Family Reading Report™: 6th Edition, 80% of children ages 6–17 agree that summer reading will help them during the school year, but one in five kids from lower-income families did not read any books at all last summer.¹ To help provide access to books for kids in need, and to encourage summer reading, 42 Governors’ Spouses, 3 Governors and 1 Lieutenant Governor representing the U.S. and U.S. territories have signed on to serve as Reading Ambassadors in their respective states. The Reading Ambassadors initiative is part of the 2017 Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge, a free, online and mobile summer reading program designed to help kids avoid the “summer slide”—the learning loss which can occur over the summer months—and take a “summer leap” by discovering the power and joy of reading for fun.

For more about the Reading Ambassadors, visit: mediaroom.scholastic.com/readingambassadors. For more about the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge, visit: www.scholastic.com/summer

As part of the initiative and to ensure students have access to books throughout the summer, Scholastic will donate 500 books to the elementary school(s) of each Reading Ambassador’s choice. In addition, to show their commitment to summer reading many Reading Ambassadors will host reading celebrations and discuss the importance of summer reading through in-school events in their states.

Scholastic thanks the following Governors, Governors’ Spouses and Lieutenant Governors for serving as Reading Ambassadors for the 2017 Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge:

• Alabama – Governor Kay Ivey
• Alaska – First Lady Donna Walker
• American Samoa – First Lady Cynthia Malala Moliga
• Arizona – First Lady Angela Ducey
• Arkansas – First Lady Susan Hutchinson
• Connecticut – First Lady Cathy Malloy
• Delaware – First Lady Tracey Quillen Carney
• Georgia – First Lady Sandra Deal
• Guam – First Lady Christine Sonido Calvo
• Hawaii – First Lady Dawn Amano-Ige
• Idaho – First Lady Lori Otter
• Illinois – First Lady Diana Rauner
• Indiana – First Lady Janet Holcomb
• Iowa – First Lady Christine Branstad
• Kansas – First Lady Mary Brownback
• Maine – First Lady Ann LePage
• Maryland – First Lady Yumi Hogan
• Massachusetts – First Lady Lauren Baker
• Michigan – First Lady Sue Snyder
• Minnesota – Governor Mark Dayton
• Mississippi – First Lady Deborah Bryant
• Missouri – First Lady Sheena Greitens
• Montana – First Lady Lisa Bullock
• Nevada – First Lady Kathleen Sandoval
• New Hampshire – First Lady Valerie Sununu
• New Jersey – First Lady Mary Pat Christie
• New Mexico – First Gentleman Chuck Franco
• New York – Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul
• North Carolina – First Lady Kristin Cooper
• North Dakota – First Lady Kathryn Helgaas Burgum
• Northern Mariana Islands – First Lady Diann Torres
• Ohio – First Lady Karen W. Kasich
• Oklahoma – First Gentleman Wade Christensen
• Oregon – First Gentleman Dan Little
• Pennsylvania – First Lady Frances Wolf
• Rhode Island – First Gentleman Andy Moffit
• South Dakota – First Lady Linda Daugaard
• Tennessee – First Lady Crissy Haslam
• U.S. Virgin Islands – Governor Kenneth Mapp
• Utah – First Lady Jeanette Herbert
• Vermont – First Lady Diana McTeague-Scott
• Virginia – First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe
• Washington – First Lady Trudi Inslee
• West Virginia – First Lady Cathy Justice
• Wisconsin – First Lady Tonette Walker
• Wyoming – First Lady Carol Mead

QUOTES:

First Lady of Virginia Dorothy McAuliffe, Chair of Governors’ Spouses Program for the National Governors Association: “My fellow Reading Ambassadors and I are honored to serve the students of our respective states by encouraging them to read over the summer months, helping our children discover new worlds through reading, and empowering them to become lifelong readers. We have worked hard in Virginia to close the summer nutrition gap by expanding access to summer meals for kids. The Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge has helped us combine books and healthful meals to keep kids growing and learning all year long.”

Richard Robinson, Chairman, President and CEO, Scholastic: “We thank our Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge Reading Ambassadors for helping students and their families learn about the importance of reading during the summer while also encouraging all children to discover the power and joy of reading. Our Reading Ambassadors’ commitment delivers a powerful message to the children within their states that, in addition to their teachers and families, state leadership is also supporting their growth as readers.”

For more information about the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge, visit //mediaroom.scholastic.com.

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References:

• (1) The Kids and Family Reading Report™: 6th Edition conducted by YouGov and Scholastic, 2016.