” Imagine 258,000 people reading the same book on the same day. Now that has got to be a record. As a matter of fact, it is a record, and that is why the event is called Read for the Record. Read for the Record is a very large fundraising event that is run through the Jumpstart program.”
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Imagine 258,000 people reading the same book on the same day.

Now that has got to be a record.

As a matter of fact, it is a record, and that is why the event is called Read for the Record. Read for the Record is a very large fundraising event that is run through the Jumpstart program. It is a national campaign designed to encourage lots of people to read the same book on the same day, says Holly Englert, the site manager for Akron’s branch of Jumpstart.

This year Read for the Record will be held on Thursday, Oct. 2 at community centers, libraries, churches and schools. Alison Siegel, an intern for Read for the Record, says that Read for the Record has three main goals. It raises discrepancies in the area of language and literacy learning, it puts books in the homes of children who wouldn’t normally have books and also fundraises for Jumpstart, which is a year long program.

Jumpstart has 74 sites and each site sponsors different events. There are constantly smaller events going on, such as book nights. The other major event that Jumpstart does is called Scribbles to Novels. This year’s campaign is the strongest yet because it has national coverage and more people are finding out about it. It is growing and growing every year and we are looking to break the record. Last year we raised over a million dollars, says Englert.

Siegel states, Jumpstart currently has 500,000 children involved. All students who attend preschool in Chicago will be part of Read for the Record. Read for the Record benefits children in the Jumpstart program, and also other children that attend preschool with Jumpstart children. All the money that is raised through this event will go back into the Jumpstart program. Students, community members, parents and volunteers are just a few of the individuals that make such a large event like Read for the Record possible.

This is Read for the Record’s third year. Siegel says our first year we had 157,000 participants, last year we had 258,000 participants, and this year we are expecting to have anywhere between 400,000 and 500,000 participants. The book that will be read this year is Corduroy. Jumpstart has a partnership with Pearson Education the publisher of Corduroy. This special edition has information directed to parents on how they should interactively read with their children.

We chose Corduroy because it is a classic book and this is also the 40 anniversary of the book, Siegel said. In order for a child to be involved with Jumpstart they an assessment process is conducted by their preschool teacher. The preschooler’s score is then sent to the Jumpstart national office. Students receiving lower scores may be placed into the program. Akron has been involved with Jumpstart for six years now.

Englert believes Jumpstart is good for the university because it is bringing awareness to the Jumpstart mission. It also has students committing to community service and also gives them a wealth of experience.

On campus a group of 71 students are extremely involved with Jumpstart and hold two-hour sessions in the preschools. All preschools are in a three mile radius of the university so it is directly benefiting the Akron community, says Englert.

Amber Churchill, a junior who is majoring in speech language pathology, is one of Akron’s Jumpstart members. She joined when she was a freshman because, at the time, her younger brother was in the same age range as Jumpstart children, and served as a type of replacement for him in her life.

Churchill believes Jumpstart gives her the chance to watch children grow over the year and progress in skills and writing accomplishments. I like how they look up to us and although the children may not remember us, I know that we made an impact on their lives.

Jumpstart is still looking for students to become involved. If interested you can apply at www.jstart.org/apply. If you would like more information on Read for the Record, there is some information about the event in Zipmail. The Web site, www.readfortherecord.org, is also a very resourceful place to find information.

Englert believes Jumpstart is an important organization because our mission is working to get children in school to succeed, and we are looking to make a difference in the life of children who don’t have those experiences. Students get to learn about themselves and also learn team-building skills that they will use later in life.

Read for the Record is important because it helps us put books in the homes of kids who need them. A middle income family has anywhere from 50 to 60 age appropriate books for preschool children, while a low income family has zero to three books that are age appropriate.

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