The Official Newsletter of Read to a Child
Summer 2021
What's Happening This Summer at Read to a Child
Greater Los Angeles Takes Students on a Summer Reading
Adventure Around the World!
Inspired by the desire to reach their students during the summer after a school year like no other, Read to a Child Greater Los Angeles piloted a virtual Summer Read Aloud Program with a travel-based theme, 'Soaring Around the World: Away We Go!' With this program, Greater Los Angeles mentors have the opportunity to connect with their students during the summer and provide them with enriching read aloud content through the Flipgrid platform. This pilot was made possible through funding from EY, Open Raven, and Winston & Strawn.

Greater Los Angeles Program Manager, Adriane Fleming, was instrumental in developing the concept of the summer program pilot. "After a challenging year of distance learning, we saw how our students craved attention, connection, and a thirst to learn more. It was important to the Greater Los Angeles Region to continue the momentum we had with the virtual Read Aloud Mentoring Program. Using Flipgrid made sense to connect mentors with their reading buddies and address the 'summer slide' by encouraging continued reading over the summer." Through this platform, mentors are able to record read aloud videos and students are able to react, send videos back, and ask questions in response. The travel-based theme serves to expose students to new ideas, knowledge, and places, in addition to providing a stunning backdrop to some of the read aloud content.
Reading mentor, Anette Padilla, went above and beyond by recording her read aloud while visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park! A dedicated mentor in the Greater Los Angeles Read Aloud Mentoring Program since 2018, Anette was more than happy to participate in the Summer Read Aloud Program and have the opportunity to virtually interact with her reading buddy, Cristian.
"I'm so glad to offer my reading buddy and other students in the Greater Los Angeles Region the opportunity to experience new and exciting places through the Summer Read Aloud Program. It is a wonderful opportunity to engage them with fun read aloud content during the summer months."
- Greater Los Angeles Mentor, Anette Padilla
Read to a Child Brings the Magic of Reading Aloud to Students' Screens with a new Summer Series of Remote Read Aloud Videos.
Read to a Child is excited to bring back the Remote Read Aloud Program this summer with all new content in the form of visually interactive and educational read aloud videos centering on important themes of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
'Kicking off' the summer series line-up, Read to a Child welcomed longtime partner, former New England Patriot and Super Bowl champion, Malcolm Mitchell, for a read aloud of his newest book My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World, with a second grade classroom at the Maurice J. Tobin School in Roxbury, MA - one of Read to a Child's 33 partner schools. In addition to his enthusiastic read aloud, Malcolm told the students an inspiring story based on his life experience and answered dynamic questions from the students.
Our latest Remote Read Aloud features children's book author, Vita Murrow, reading from her books, Power to the Princess and High Five to the Hero. Vita joined Read to a Child and students at the Esperanza School in our Greater Los Angeles Region to read aloud from her books of reimagined fairy tales centering on important themes such as self-confidence and belonging. Vita answered many probing questions from the students ranging from her journey to becoming an author to how she deals with criticism. Watch the entire read aloud below.
Thanks to generous funding from The Guru Krupa Foundation, Read to a Child is able to meet the overwhelming need for literacy support and provide read aloud content for children this summer, as students continue to struggle with the combined effects of COVID-19 learning loss and the annual 'summer slide.' The Remote Read Aloud Program continues to be a unique avenue for Read to a Child to reach students at home with powerful read aloud experiences.
Check out our entire Remote Read Aloud Program library for access to exclusive read aloud content from notable authors and guest readers.
Greater Boston Hosts Successful Virtual Trivia Night
At Greater Boston's second Virtual Team Trivia Night, Read to a Child raised nearly $20,000 to benefit the Read Aloud Mentoring Program in Greater Boston. Supporters across the Greater Boston Region joined together over Zoom to participate in a fun-filled evening of competition with 12 teams competing to win the coveted Trivia Night title. We are so grateful for all those who participated and for our amazing sponsors for making this night an incredible success for Read to a Child in Greater Boston.
Huge Congratulations to 'Milwaukee's Finest' from Trivia sponsor, Northwestern Mutual, for winning the coveted title of Trivia Night Champions!
We'd love to specially recognize our generous Trivia Night sponsors: Agero, Arent Fox, Charles River Associates, Eaton Vance, Northwestern Mutual and The Tarini Family.
Save the Date - November 4, 2021
Mark Your Calendar for our Annual Gala: Turning Pages
Thursday November 4, 2021 in Boston
Help Read to a Child 'turn the page' into our next chapter after an extraordinary and challenging year for so many. Join us at the Courtyard Marriott in Downtown Boston for our Turning Pages Gala. This year, we are thrilled to finally reunite in person with our greatest supporters to celebrate the many triumphs and successes of a year of virtual mentoring and help us look towards a bright future for the Read Aloud Mentoring Program.

Mark your calendars now and stay tuned for more information on how to reserve your ticket for what is sure to be an exciting, philanthropic, and memorable evening with Read to a Child. We can't wait to see you again.
We are RAMP-ing up for our Fall 2021 Program Launch!
Here's what you need to know:
We are looking forward to launching our Read Aloud Mentoring Program (RAMP) for the 2021-2022 school year. On a school by school basis, RAMP will be flexible to incorporate virtual programming as is required by COVID-19 district guidelines. By early fall, Read to a Child program staff will communicate to all current volunteers the latest developments, guidelines, timelines, and how to re-apply as a volunteer for the upcoming school year. Stay tuned for more information from your Read to a Child representative on how you can continue your participation in the Read Aloud Mentoring Program.
Interested in becoming a first time volunteer with Read to a Child?
Beginning in September, you can reach out to your appropriate Read to a Child location via our website (or via your company's Read to a Child liaison). Please note: We do not currently plan to accept virtual-only volunteers from regions of the country where we do not have a physical presence in area schools. We thank you for your interest and support!
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