Political Leaders and Spouses Become Reading Ambassadors
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 http://mediaroom.scholastic.com.
References:
- (1) The Kids and Family Reading Report™: 6th Edition conducted by YouGov and Scholastic, 2016.
SOURCE Scholastic Inc.
