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Thousands of Albuquerque Public School students will benefit from a summer reading program under the No Child Left Behind Act, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige announced today.

"Reading is the one skill upon which all others are based," Secretary Paige said. "We know from research that students often lose some of their reading skills during the summer break, so it's important to encourage children to keep up those skills. Through this summer reading program, we hope that children will see reading as not just a school time activity, but as something that is also fun and a regular part of life."

On behalf of Secretary Paige, Assistant Secretary of Education Laurie Rich kicked off Albuquerque's participation during an event at the Kirtland Elementary School in Albuquerque. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, state Secretary of Education Veronica Garcia, U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson and Albuquerque Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Everitt joined Rich for the event.

"We at the Department are excited about the strong corporate and community support for the Summer Reading Achievers Program in Albuquerque," Rich said. "We appreciate the enthusiasm of New Mexico leaders in helping us identify strategies to make this program work all across the country."

"Children who learn to read well reap lifelong rewards," Wilson added. "We have great public libraries and summertime is a chance to get lost in a good book."

The No Child Left Behind Summer Reading Achievers Program encourages students in grades K-8 to read actively during the summer months and avoid the loss of reading skills that often occurs during summer vacation. Atlanta Public Schools piloted the program last year, with nearly 18,000 students participating reading over 150,000 books. The books for the program are donated by First Book as well as other national partners.

"First Book has a long-standing partnership with the leaders at the U.S. Department of Education as well as private sector leaders like The Walt Disney Company," First Book President Kyle Zimmer said. "Through these relationships and others, including Scholastic Inc. Children's Book Group, Random House Children's Publishing, HarperCollins Children's Books and Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, First Book has the ability to provide new books to children participating in summer reading programs. We look forward to celebrating the success of our Summer Reading Achievers as they create summer memories centered around new books and improve their reading skills."

"Helping students during the summer months to maintain and build their literacy skills is a key factor to their success the next school year," Superintendent Everitt said. "The No Child Left Behind Summer Reading Achievers program is a great way to provide our students an added incentive to read books while they are out on a well-deserved break. We are looking forward to seeing the positive influence the program will have on student achievement at the elementary and middle school levels."

This year's program will be at the following sites: Springfield, Mass.; Portsmouth, N.H.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Camden, N.J.; Atlanta, Ga.; Gainesville, Fla.; Kansas City, Kan.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Albuquerque, N.M; San Diego, Calif. and the state of South Dakota. The sites were selected based on the presence of supportive community and business groups and active school district leaders who are working to reduce the achievement gap.

To participate in the program, students must read 10 age-appropriate books during the summer months. Students will be required to describe briefly the books they have read by completing a simple form. Prizes and certificates will be awarded to successful students and special recognition will be given to schools with the highest percentages of participating students.

School districts will work with the Department to conduct outreach and promote the program. They also will work with businesses and community organizations to attract support for the program. In Albuquerque, Wells Fargo Bank and the Albuquerque Public Schools Foundation are sponsors. In addition, the Department will conduct local workshops and provide materials and certificates.

Contributing sponsors for the 2004 program include First Book, Target Stores, Scholastic, Inc., USA Football, National PTA, Boys and Girls Clubs of America and Communities in Schools, Inc. Other partners will be announced at a later date. Partner organizations will provide other incentives and forms of recognition.

One of President Bush's first actions after taking office was to promote children's reading achievement because studies show that when children fail to learn to read early in school, every aspect of school success is affected. By providing early diagnosis and help for reading difficulties, Reading First-supported programs help improve student motivation and academic achievement.

Reading First is designed around an extensive knowledge base of the essential skills children must have to learn to read. The program reflects the findings of a congressionally mandated, extensive review of scientifically based research on how students learn to read, which was completed by the National Reading Panel in 2000.

Reading First was passed into law by a bipartisan majority of Congress under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and centers on the following priorities: raising the caliber and quality of classroom instruction; basing instruction on scientifically proven methods; providing professional training for educators in reading instruction; and supplying substantial resources to support the unprecedented initiative.

President Bush's FY 2005 budget includes $1.3 billion in reading funding, including $1.1 billion for Reading First, $132 million for Early Reading First and $100 million for the Striving Readers program to meet the president's goal of ensuring that all children can read on grade level by the third grade.

More information about the No Child Left Behind Act is available at www.nochildleftbehind.gov.

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