On Thursday, May 18, Scholastic and the National Head Start Association (NHSA) teamed up to celebrate Head Start’s 52nd birthday with a first-ever nationwide Community Reading Day!
Approximately 1,400 local Head Start programs hosted their own unique community reading day celebrations, complete with visits from local officials and community leaders, read-alouds, party hats, birthday cakes, and more. To add to these celebrations and promote the importance of early literacy, Scholastic donated 80,000 books to Head Start programs across the country.
“This partnership with Scholastic is a great way not only to celebrate the power and promise of the Head Start Advantage, but also to foster local engagement,” said Yasmina Vinci, Executive Director of the National Head Start Association. “These community reading days are an important opportunity to raise awareness in local communities about the magnificent impact of Head Start.”
We are obsessed with the incredible photos that poured in on social media from the different community reading day celebrations. In Brooklyn, NY, students welcomed President of Scholastic Education, Greg Worrell, to the Project Social Care Head Start with a handmade “welcome Mr. Greg” sign. Over in Massachusetts, First Lady Lauren Baker joined Clifford the Big Red Dog® for a special visit to the Dimock Center Head Start in Roxbury, MA.
Check out all of the Community Reading Day action the Storify round-up below!
Image via Cameron and Rockdale Head Start, Jennifer Horne
