A Brooklyn early childhood center was among many nationwide that participated on Oct. 7 in the National Jumpstart Read for the Record campaign.
Ingrid Martin, chief of staff for Sen. Eric Adams, representative for the 20th Senatorial District in Brooklyn, was invited by the Carol Kingston Early Childhood Center as the first reader that kicked off the center’s campaign. Maureen’s Place Day Care also participated in the event.
This year’s book was “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats.
“The boys and girls from Carol Kingston and Maureen’s Place Day care listened eagerly and attentively as Ms. Martin did a fantastic job in telling them the story of Peter’s experience on a snowy day,” Dr. Janice Emanuel-Bunn, the Guyanese-born director of the Carol Kingston Early Childhood Center, told Caribbean Life.
“The boys and girls answered questions about the story, put together a snowman during a craft session, and made snow cones as a part of the activities for this event,” she added.
“This is a significant event because early childhood literacy is one of the keys to academic success”, she continued.
Dr. Emanuel-Bunn, also a professor with the University of Phoenix, Arizona, said that she is so passionate about reading and is an ardent supporter of the National Jumpstart Read for the Record campaign that she has written a series of books, called Learning is Fun.
She said her staff and teachers from Sunset Park Family Daycare and Maureen’s Daycare, ensured that the event was “a resounding success.”
Jumpstart, a national early education organization that works toward the day every child in America enters school, is designed to help children develop a love for reading.
Presented in partnership with the Pearson Foundation, Jumpstart’s Read for the Record has helped more than three million participants share in the power of reading since 2006–all while setting a world record for the most children reading the same book on the same day.
Since 1993, it said more than 70,000 preschool children across America have benefited from millions of hours of Jumpstart service.
Dr. Emanuel-Bunn said, this year, people of all backgrounds and professions have read with millions of children to kick off Jumpstart’s yearlong program, bringing attention to the importance of early childhood education.
Teachers, city officials, governors, mayors, firemen, celebrities and ordinary people have read to children, during the program, throughout the country.
In 2009, The Read for the Record Campaign broke its own record for the world’s largest shared reading experience.
More than two million adults and children read Eric Carle’s classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, at organized events across the US and around the world, starting on NBC’s TODAY Show.
Hundreds of thousands of Penguin books were donated to children in need, and more than $1.4 million was raised to support Jumpstart’s work with preschool children.
