Building strong literacy skills early onis the foundation for an effective education. Developing a child’s ability to read by the third grade prepares them to read to learn in content areas like science and math in the future. It also setsthe childon a positive path to graduate from high school.

Students nationwide need access to quality children’s literature, especially over the summer, to mitigate any summer reading loss; Ft. Lauderdale students are no different. This is why, as a part of United We Serve, the National PTA and Scholastic partnered together to support students and families in south Florida. On June 27, 2009 at the PTA Family Expo, 5,000 books were distributed to children and thousands of parent resources were shared with parents to encourage families to read together. Local volunteers from the Broward PTA and from the community assisted in sharing books to the families that attended the event. It is our hope that families will use these resources to spend quality time reading together and also foster an increased interest in reading individually.

PTA groups and individual members will play an active role in the United We Serve initiative going forward. PTA CEO Byron Garrett echoes President Obama’s call to service:

“Our predecessors in PTA helped this nation overcome war, disease, injustice, and segregation. Now we must make our own contribution to American history. Please join us…in a lifelong commitment to serve [our] country.”

See the PTA website for ideas and volunteer resources.