Jumpstart’s Read for the Record 2009 Campaign

This year, there’s more happening as part of Jumpstart’s Read for the Record campaign than ever before. Want to know the essentials before the record-setting begins on October 8? Here are the fast facts:

1 Again this year, a new world record begins with a classic book.
For the fourth year in a row, Pearson is proud to present Jumpstart’s Read for the Record. Almost a million people have registered for our annual one-day reading celebration since 2006. This year we’re hoping to double that number – all in one day. On October 8, 2009, record-breakers everywhere will read the beloved classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Together, we aim to raise awareness about the importance of reading with young children. We also aim to raise funds in support of Jumpstart’s year-round work with preschool children in low-income communities across the United States.

2 We’ve done our homework and found we’ve got to work together to spread the word. In conjunction with this year’s Read for the Record campaign, we commissioned the first “Pearson Foundation Early Childhood Education Perception” poll, which explores Americans’ perceptions surrounding the reading inequality gap that exists between children in low-income homes and their more affluent peers. We found that far too few Americans understand how essential early childhood literacy skills are to a life of sustained learning and success. In fact, of the Americans polled:

• Eighteen percent understand that a child is less likely to succeed in school if he or she is not read to before kindergarten.
• Seventy-three percent wrongly believe that if children enter kindergarten unprepared, they will catch up in elementary school.
• Fifty-three percent are unaware that nearly one-half of children from low-income communities start first grade up to two years behind their peers.

One thing we learned as a result: to give every child an equal chance to succeed, we need to spread the word. That’s why we’re making plans to ensure that this year’s Read for the Record celebrations will be bigger and more successful than ever.

3 We’re sharing more than 200,000 copies of the children’s classic at the heart of this year’s campaign. The book at the heart of this year’s Read for the Record campaign has touched millions of young readers since its debut forty years ago. Now, thanks to the Penguin Group, a special Campaign Edition of Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar has been created just for Jumpstart’s Read for the Record. This special edition provides important reading tips for parents; includes introductions by Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira of NBC’s TODAY show; and features special forewords for parents contributed by musician, actor, and rapper LL Cool J and actress Mary-Louise Parker. The Pearson Foundation is donating more than 230,000 of these special Campaign Editions to young people and their teachers in conjunction with this year’s campaign. Until almost the end of September, you can secure your own copy at www.readfortherecord.org.

4 We’re welcoming important new campaign partners. Last year, more than 1,500 Pearson people from more than 40 Pearson office locations helped to set the new world record for the largest single-day shared reading event. This year, there’s a great new way to get the official Campaign Edition of Jumpstart’s Read for the Record: visit your local Wal-Mart store. Campaign partners, including American Eagle Outfitters, Penguin, and Sodexo, are welcoming Wal-Mart as the campaign’s new Official Retail Sponsor. In support of this year’s campaign, Wal-Mart is holding Read for the Record celebrations in its U.S. stores on October 8. Just as important: Beginning September 28, the Campaign Edition of The Very Hungry Caterpillar will be available at each of Wal-Mart’s 3,500 U.S. locations. All net proceeds from the sales of these books will go directly to support Jumpstart’s work year-round.

5 The national kick-off celebration begins on NBC’s TODAY show. The tradition continues. Again this year, Jumpstart’s Read for the Record will kick off on NBC’s TODAY show. On the morning of October 8, millions of viewers will learn about the importance of early childhood literacy and will be invited to take part in their own local reading events. This year campaign sponsors LL Cool J and Mary-Louise Parker are again joining Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira to help spread the word. And among the list of guest celebrity readers: author Eric Carle himself will make a special appearance to share his classic story. Check out all the action beginning at 7:00 am EST on NBC.

6 When the national kick-off concludes, the local celebrations begin. In New York City, the celebration will move from Rockefeller Plaza – where the TODAY show is based – to the New York Public Library, where the Pearson Foundation and Jumpstart will host a citywide kick-off celebration beginning at 10:00 am. We’ll be marching down Fifth Avenue to get this New York City kick-off event started, and we’ll be getting ready for similar invitation-only reading events in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Again this year, we’re especially looking forward to the reading event at Washington Nationals ballpark in Washington, D.C. There, together with the USO, we’ll be helping to set a new world record with children and families of U.S. service people who are stationed overseas. In each of these cities, the kick-off celebrations will be followed by hundreds of local reading events, many of which involve our own Pearson people and businesses.

7 At Pearson, we take Read for the Record personally. This year, for the first time, we’re hoping to engage more than one million registered readers as part of Jumpstart’s Read for the Record campaign. At Pearson, we’re doing our part: We’ve been working since last fall to engage leaders from hundreds of school districts nationwide. We’ve helped to organize statewide reading events, bring governors, mayors, and city officials together from Boston to Los Angeles, and taken steps to involve more public and school libraries than ever before. And, we’ve extended our partnership with the USO and with the nonprofit United Through Reading organization so that service people and their families can take part in Jumpstart’s Read for the Record campaign. In communities across the United States, more than 1,500 Pearson people from more than fifty Pearson offices are making plans to help set a new world record in partnership with local schools, universities, libraries, hospitals, and community organizations. In many locations, they’ll extend the local reading celebrations by offering participating children and families the chance to create their own personalized ABC reading book – a service based on the Pearson Foundation’s own Family Book Nights literacy program. Find out about events organized by Pearson people in your region.

8 We’re also engaging record-breakers overseas. Again in 2009, we will extend our partnership with the USO and with the nonprofit organization United Through Reading so that service people and their families can take part in Jumpstart’s Read for the Record campaign.  In addition to organizing the invitation-only celebration for USO families at Washington Nationals stadium, we’ve donated more than 30,000 books to these great organizations so that USO families in bases across the United States and around the world can take part. Thanks to United Through Reading, service people will be able to make recordings of their readings from military deployments all over the world to share with their children back home. We’re just as pleased that Pearson people and businesses are doing more than ever to extend Read for the Record to Latin America. Again this year, we’re organizing reading events and sharing books from Mexico to Peru. Pearson people and businesses in England, India, South Africa, and scores of other locations are also taking part.

9 You’ve got to register to be counted.
The Read for the Record campaign has raised more than four million dollars for Jumpstart since 2006. In the process, more than a million registered readers confirmed their participation, reading The Little Engine That Could in 2006, The Story of Ferdinand in 2007, and Corduroy in 2008. This year we expect to confirm as many participants as all previous years combined, pushing the total to over two million registered readers since 2006. To be counted, you need to do two simple things: First, before October 8, pledge to read at readfortherecord.org, the only place to be counted for the new world record. All readers who pledge now will receive a reminder to return to log in their reading tallies. Then, when your record-breaking is complete, visit www.readfortherecord.org again to confirm your participation. Making sure your celebration is part of the record has never been so simple.

10 Reading is important all year long! Every day is a good day to read with a child in your life. Learn more at www.readfortherecord.org, and make sure to pledge to read on October 8, 2009.