COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — This week marks the start of the 'If You Give A Child A Book' (IYGACAB) campaign that celebrates and encourages young students to read by helping them get the resources they need to get started on their literature adventures.
Every donation received helps deliver free books to children.
This year, KOAA News5 has partnered up with five schools for the IYGACAB program, those schools are:
- Will Rogers Elementary
- West Elementary
- Queen Elementary
- Bradford Elementary
- Avondale Elementary
This incredible program helps students from kindergarten to the third grade build a stock for a home library that sees they get relevant and age-appropriate books for children of their age.
It is integral for children around this age to explore and love to read as the effects of it could be severe in their futures. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, children who do not read at grade level by the end of third grade are four times less likely to graduate from high school, and these numbers more than triple for children who experience poverty.
One of the best ways to combat this issue is to make reading fun.
Per Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report, a child's frequency of reading books for fun begins to drop from 55% at age 8 to just 35% by the time a child reaches nine years old.
To help show children the fun side of reading, some of our very own at KOAA alongside many other volunteers including Olympic athletes, are volunteering to read to the children at these schools.
Our own Jake Walker got this week kick-started as he traveled to Will Rogers Elementary, and did his best narrating impression for the children.
The rest of the schools mentioned previously will also be receiving the volunteer treatment, as there will be four more readings for the schools on these dates:
- West Elementary, May 7
- Queen Elementary, May 8
- Bradford Elementary, May 9
- Avondale Elementary, May 14
Several more KOAA members will be making appearances at these readings, and are looking forward to reaching out and helping a group of incredible young students.
This program is a fantastic way to give children the resources they need to be successful in their lives. Last year alone, IYGACAB raised more than $60,000 which amounted to the distribution of more than 12,000 books across El Paso and Pueblo Counties.
Click here to learn more about the program and donate.
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