LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
The City of Hampton Mayor Molly Ward and Col. Kevin Altman, 1st Mission Support Group commander, read to children at Langley's Child Development Center Dec. 8.
The 120 children from the CDC are participating in The Mayor's Book Club, which is designed to promote early literacy, improve the social and emotional development of young children, and increase the likelihood that children grow up in an environment where books are available and literacy is valued.
According to Mayor Ward, statistics show if a child in third grade is not at the third grade reading level they will be behind for the rest of their academic career. If a child is at the third grade reading level, they will keep on track or excel in reading levels.
The program was made possible by $4,700 in donations from the Langley Chapter of the Air Force Association and the Langley Civic Leaders Association. The funds provided each child with a backpack and eight books to start their own library.
"Any program that provides our children with books and introduces them to the love of reading is important to me," said Colonel Altman. "Too often in this day and age our kids are bombarded by nothing but electronic media. Reading too often gets pushed aside. Reading can open whole new worlds; it always has for me. If this program can bring that to just one child, its well worth it."
Each month, from October to May, the book club reaches more than 1,000 children in 11 preschools in the City of Hampton with the mayor and community volunteers reading the book-of-the-month, and parents receive a monthly newsletter with reading tips.
Parents can visit the Mayor's Book Club Web site at
www.hamptonmayorsbookclub.org for reading tips, family reading activities, information about local events, and links to parent resources and information.