Since 2006, national early education organization Jumpstart has been hosting its annual Read for the Record campaign to address the importance of reading. Thanks to Read for the Record, millions of children and adults from across the globe gather together each year to read the same book on the same day.
I am excited to say I will once again be taking part in this year’s event by reading to preschool, kindergarten and first and second grade classes at both Glasgow Elementary in Howard County and Hardeman R-X Elementary in Saline County. This year’s event will be held on Thursday, Oct. 27, and it marks my fourth year of participation. After this year, I will have read to children in classes in all eight counties of the 21st Senate District.
This year’s featured book is “The Bear Ate Your Sandwich,” written and illustrated by Julia Sarcone-Roach. Jumpstart describes it as the tale “of a bear, lost in the city, who happens upon an unattended sandwich in the park. The bear’s journey from forest to city and back home again is full of happy accidents, funny encounters, and sensory delights.”
Read for the Record is the largest shared reading experience — Jumpstart actually broke the world reading record in 2013 when 2,462,860 children and adults participated in the 24-hour celebration.
Improving education in the Show-Me State has always been one of my top priorities as a lawmaker. Through both my chairmanship of the Senate Education Committee and the measures I have sponsored, I have worked to advance positive education legislation that will ultimately lead to a brighter future for all of Missouri’s youth.
More than 17 million children and adults have participated in Read for the Record since it first began. It is a positive experience that puts books into the hands of children and encourages policymakers to work on improvements for early childhood education. Most importantly, it is a great way for children and their families to spend more time together.
If you have, or know, any young children who enjoy wonderful stories and breaking world records, I urge you to take part in Read for the Record’s 11th anniversary event on Thursday, Oct. 27. Both English and Spanish versions of “The Bear Ate Your Sandwich” will be available online at www.readfortherecord.org from Oct. 21 to Oct. 30. You will be able report the total number of children and adults you read with on that same website. For more information about the event, please visit Jumpstart’s website at www.jstart.org.
As always, please feel free to contact me or my staff with any questions or concerns at any time. We look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions and trying to answer any questions you may have. You can reach us by phone at 866-277-0882 (toll-free) or (573) 751-2272, or by fax at (573) 526-7381.
Senator David Pearce serves Caldwell, Carroll, Howard, Johnson, Lafayette, Livingston, Ray and Saline counties in the 21st State Senatorial District.