Saco – Maine Department of Education Acting Commissioner A. Pender Makin along with students, educators, and administrators from Young School in Saco officially kicked off the Read to ME Challenge on Monday, February 4, 2019.
In its 4th year running, the Maine Department of Education launches the Read to ME Challenge as way to encourage communities throughout Maine to contribute to children’s literacy growth by reading aloud to one or more children for at least 15 minutes. Part of the challenge is to capture the moment via a photo or video and then post it on social media with the hashtag #ReadtoME and then challenge others to do the same.
At the kick-off event yesterday, Acting Commissioner Makin read Maine author Chris Van Dusen’s, Camping Spree with Mr. McGee to children in kindergarten through 2nd grade at Young School and then challenged the following groups of people to participate in the Read to ME Challenge:
- All the big kids in the room
- Maine Educators
- Community Literacy Teams
- School Administrators, School Board Members, and Volunteers
- Maine Librarians
- Maine Author, Chris Van Dusen
- State Legislators
- Local Legislators
- U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King
- Governor Janet Mills
See a live stream of the event on the Maine DOE’s Facebook Page.
Schools and organizations throughout the state have joined the challenge so that they too can encourage their community members to read to children and to be part of the collective voice expressing the vital importance that reading to children plays in the social and economic well-being of Maine. See a full list of community partners for the 2019 Read to ME Challenge.
The Read to ME Challenge runs through the month of February leading up Read Across America Day which takes place on March 2. Learn more about being a Read to ME Challenge Partner. For further information about the challenge, contact Danielle Saucier, Early Literacy Specialist, Maine Department of Education at danielle.m.saucier@maine.gov and (207) 624-6702.