| MEAC and WS/FCS to Host Reading Rally | < All News |
| Monday, February 15, 2010 |
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VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., February 15 - The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) will tip off the last stage of the Read with MEac reading program in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools (WS/FCS) with a rally at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday at Hall-Woodward Elementary.
“The students in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System have demonstrated an excitement about reading and we are pleased to be a part of that,” said MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas. “We understand the importance of connecting with the Winston-Salem community and truly appreciate how we have been able to engage with the youth with this reading initiative.”
Thomas and WS/FCS Superintendent Don Martin will speak to fifth-graders in Hall-Woodward’s media center and read to the students from some of their favorite books. “We are tremendously appreciative of the MEAC’s efforts to encourage our students to read,” Martin said. “Early childhood literacy is a key indicator of future academic success, and a program like Read with MEac is a great way to get students to read.”
The Read with MEac program encourages fifth-graders to read as many non-exclusive books as they can from Jan. 19 until Feb. 19. The program was organized by the conference’s Senior Woman Administrators (SWA) and is aimed at encouraging education and promoting the love of reading to students. Students participating in the program will receive a bookmark and a ticket voucher to the 2010 MEAC Basketball Tournament, March 8-13, at the Joel Coliseum.
Representatives from the men’s and women’s basketball teams of the 12 MEAC schools will visit the winning fifth-grade class. The top eight readers at the winning school will be invited to serve as ball boys/girls during the tournament. The winners will be recognized during the game along with the school’s principal, teachers and representatives from WS/FCS.
Additionally, the MEAC’s Student Athletes Advisory Committee (SAAC) will provide a donation to the media center of the winning school. Hall-Woodward read 2,500 books and won the top prize in the first year of the Read with the MEac program.
The 2010 winning school will be announced on Feb. 22. For more information about the Read with the MEac program, contact Julius Small, MEAC Director of Corporate Partnerships and Marketing, at (757) 416-7100.
