Book lovers wanted to help students celebrate Houston Reads Day
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Data shows a majority of Houston's third graders cannot read on level, but you can help create generational change by sharing the Magic of Storytelling.
Join ABC13 for Houston Reads Day on March 2, as we turn the page on illiteracy by volunteering to read for just 30 minutes to our next generation of thinkers and leaders.
We're partnering with the nonprofit Literacy Now to read to more than than 14,000 students from Pre-K through third grade across 35 participating Houston and Aldine ISD schools.
Click here to volunteer as a Houston Reads Day reader
For the third year, Houston Reads Day invites Houstonians to come together to bring awareness to the literacy crisis in our city.
"What we find is 73% of third graders are not reading on grade level," Literacy Now COO Jacklyn Wilson said.
Without intervention, students who cannot read on level by third grade are at a greater risk of dropping out of school, and more likely as adults to experience poverty, unemployment, even incarceration.
Wilson said Houston's literacy crisis has increased, from 63% of students who could not read on level before the COVID-19 pandemic to roughly 72% since March 2020.
Being a Houston Reads Day volunteer doesn't require a big commitment. You only need to pick up two shifts, reading 15 minutes each at one school near your home or office.
A short volunteer training and background check is required to participate, and readers ages 13 and up are invited to participate. Click here to volunteer as a Houston Reads Day reader.
ABC13 Houston is proud to be Houston Reads Day's official television partner
Literacy Now works with Pre-K through third grade students and caregivers to provide resources and reading intervention programs.
They also pair children with volunteer mentors, organize reading interventions and teach families how to include reading in their everyday lives.
