Read for the Record

Jumpstart East Palo Alto’s Read for the Record 2010

Can you imagine your childhood without your favorite stories? Neither can we. But the fact is that most children in low-income communities have few, if any, age-appropriate books in their homes. The number of books in a home is the single strongest indicator of a child's future reading ability. Jumpstart—through Jumpstart’s Read for the Record Campaign and intensive early education programs—puts books in the homes of children who need them most and focuses on helping them make gains in crucial language and literacy skills.

Jumpstart East Palo Alto at Stanford celebrated Jumpstart’s Read for the Record, a national campaign designed to break the world record for the largest shared reading experience ever, while also working to break the cycle of illiteracy. The 2010 campaign (like previous campaigns) was designed to encourage young people, their families, and educators everywhere to set another world record by creating the largest shared reading experience ever on Thursday, October 7, 2010. The day’s activities generated public awareness about the importance of early childhood education. Shared reading experiences ranged from an adult and child reading in their home to large group events with hundreds of people gathering at public facilities for community reading sessions. Locally, hundreds of underresourced children in East Palo Alto received copies of Ezra Jack Keats' The Snowy Day. Last year, Jumpstart’s National Read for the Record Campaign raised almost $2 million to directly support and expand the organization’s early education work in low-income communities.

To support Jumpstart East Palo Alto, please visit the Read for the Record donation website.

For more information, please contact Elizabeth Figueredo.