New York, NY, July 18 – Renowned children’s book author and illustrator Ruth Chan will bring the star of “Georgie’s Best Bad Day” into the lives of young NYC readers at Read Alliance’s summer program on July 18th. Chan will discuss and draw her book and its beloved protagonist, Georgie, with Kindergarten, first and second graders who participate in the unique program that pairs these young readers with paid high school students providing individual reading intervention. Each student will receive a copy of the book and the opportunity to have it signed by the author.
"As a child who wasn’t an avid reader myself, it means all that much more to me to have the opportunity to bring a book— from its characters to the process of how it was made— to life so that children get even more excited to read and explore all that books have to offer,” said Chan, who studied arts in education and worked with families in underserved communities, and is based in Brooklyn. Chan’s visit is the result of a collaboration between Read Alliance and Meet the Writers, Inc., a nonprofit that supports literacy by bringing inspiring authors with diverse stories to students in underserved New York City schools.
“Learning to read is foundational to all other school-based learning, and Read Alliance is proud to help with this process as well as to partner with organizations like Meet the Writers that promote a culture of literacy. A love of books, and of reading, is central to discovering ourselves and the world,” said Danielle Guindo, Read Alliance’s Executive Director. “We are very excited to host Ruth in sharing her extraordinary talent and imagination with our students and in doing so help boost them along this path of self-discovery.”
Read Alliance’s unique dual-impact model trains high school students in a proven, research-based curriculum, and then meaningfully employs them to provide individual literacy tutoring to their younger peers in their own communities, preparing both populations for academic and life success. Elementary students gain an entire year’s growth in reading ability following just 30 after-school sessions with the program. Read Alliance has tutored more than 15,000 early elementary students and employed more than 12,000 high school students across all five New York City boroughs since its founding in 2000. Learn more at www.readalliance.org
Meet the Writers, Inc. collaborates with schools to create a culture of reading that converts students into readers. In four years, the organization has reached more than 12,000 students citywide through more than 100 distinct author visits, and distributed more than 4,000 books signed by the visiting authors. Learn more at www.meetthewriters.org.
To request a press pass and to schedule interviews with Read Alliance leadership and teen leaders, please contact Danielle Guindo at 646-867-6104 or DGuindo@readalliance.org.
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