For the 8th consecutive year, the Maine Department of Education will collaborate with community organizations and schools to promote the Read to ME Challenge, a month-long public awareness campaign held during February across Maine.
The Read to ME Challenge is intended to bolster enjoyment in reading and to support children’s literacy growth by challenging adults to read to and/or with children for at least 15 minutes during the month of February. Challenge readers are invited to capture the moment via a photo or a video to post on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with the hashtag #ReadtoME. They are also encouraged to continue the impact by challenging social media friends to read to children and spread the impact across the state. Maine DOE hopes that social media posts include Twitter tag at @mdoenews and/or a Facebook tag @MaineDepartmentofEducation1!
While anyone can participate in the Read to ME Challenge, this initiative offers a wonderful opportunity for schools, child cares, libraries, and many other community organizations to plan engaging strategies for completing the challenge and demonstrating commitment to reading to children. In the past there have been a variety of student and adult groups that have organized impactful reading events. These include college and high school sports teams, civic organizations, library programs, recreation departments and educational organizations. If you have a school or community organization that plans on participating in this challenge, please let us know by signing up at this link.
The Read to ME Challenge will run for the month of February, leading up to Read Across America Day on March 2, 2023. Learn more about the Read to ME Challenge on the Maine DOE Website and be looking for more details about the kick-off soon.
For additional information, contact Dee Saucier (danielle.m.saucier@maine.gov), Maine DOE Inclusive Education Literacy Specialist.