West Region Events

Berkeley

Pearson’s Peachpit office volunteered at Children’s Museum of Art in Oakland, joining Jumpstart, public broadcaster KQED, and 145 children from St. Vincent’s Day Home and Centro Infantil De La Raza CDC in a large group reading of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and in creating a variety of caterpillar-themed crafts.

Los Angeles

In the Los Angeles area, the day began with an introductory press conference at Los Angeles Public Library’s central branch, where Pearson’s Beth Wray was joined by Lo Bosworth of MTV’s The Hills; actor, director, and producer Henry Winkler; Emily Osment of Hannah Montana; Bill Nye the Science Guy; City Librarian Martín Gómez; Superintendent Dr. Darline Robles of the LA County Office of Education; and Laura Dave, author of The Divorce Party and London Is the Best City in America. Then Pearson people from Pearson Achievement Solutions’ Santa Monica office read to 100 children from Westside and Trinity Unlimited Children’s Centers. The children also took part in literacy-related activities, including “My ABC Book” bookmaking.

Pearson contact: Debby Shallenberger

Sacramento

Dozens from the Pearson School Systems group in Rancho Cordova volunteered their time at events in and around the greater Sacramento area, including:

• Reading to young students throughout the day in Title I schools in the Folsom Cordova Unified School District
• Reading to 3-year-olds, 4-year-olds, and 5-year-olds in Sacramento Public Library branches in lower-income neighborhoods during morning, afternoon, and evening story hours
• Reading to hospitalized children ranging in age from 3 to 7 at The Shriners Hospital, which provides no-cost services for children in areas such as orthopedic care, burn care, spinal cord injury rehabilitation, and cleft lip and palate care
• Facilitating events with the mayors of the cities of Sacramento, Rancho Cordova, and Folsom

Pearson contacts: Patricia Montemayor, Celeste Lemen

San Francisco

Volunteers from Pearson’s office in San Francisco and the Peachpit Press office in Berkeley read to hundreds of children at the San Francisco Public Library’s main branch. Once again, this citywide event was sponsored by the Pearson Foundation, the City of San Francisco, and the Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families. An opening press conference included Paul Corey, President of Pearson Science, Carlos Garcia of San Francisco Unified School District, California State Senator Mark Leno, and many city supervisors and officials. Together, they led young children in a reading of The Very Hungry Caterpillar as well as in literacy-based activities.

Pearson contact: Melanie Tantingco

Aurora

Pearson people from the Aurora VUE office read to dozens of excited preschoolers at a variety of schools and early childhood centers throughout the Mile High City.

Pearson contact: Caitlyn Vespa

Boulder

Employee volunteers from Pearson’s Knowledge Technologies office in Boulder – along with their families and friends – once again read to children at several schools in the Boulder/Denver area.

Pearson contact: Michelle Allen

Denver

Pearson’s own Marjorie Scardino, Will Ethridge, John Fallon, and Rona Fairchild joined volunteers from Pearson’s eCollege office in reading to almost 400 eager kindergartners and first- and second-grade students at Wyatt-Edison Charter School – one of Denver Public’s most well-known schools. After reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Pearson people worked with each kindergartner to make personalized “My ABC Books” to take home – in many cases the first book that these students can call their own.

Pearson contact: Shauna Krammer

Sandy

In Sandy, Pearson people from the Edustructures office read to kindergartners at several local schools.

Pearson contact: Mark Greer