The Los Angeles Dodgers and L.A. Dodgers Foundation (LADF) announced the launch of the fourth season of their joint literacy initiative, “L.A. Reads.” Students and families can sign up to track their daily reading and join the Dodgers Reading Champions Challenge at Dodgers.com/LAReads.
While the start of the 2020 Major League Baseball remains on hold and facing uncertainty, the Dodgers Foundation believe the current state of quarantining can be crucial for students.
“During this time, we find it important to provide children in our region with as many fun and educational tools as possible,” LADF chief executive officer Nichol Whiteman said. “We hope that LA Reads can offer support to families and schools as they navigate the world of distance learning and strive for continuity of education.”
Dodgers vice president of external affairs and community relations Naomi Rodriguez added: “Finding time to read as a family remains an important priority during these challenging times, and we hope LA Reads can continue to motivate students to read and provide literary resources for parents throughout Southern California.”
In an effort to support at-home learning during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Dodgers and LADF will also share digital reading experiences and resources via social media that families can view, which will include read alouds from players, coaches, alumni, and educators.
The Dodgers and LADF are also donating 1,600 books for students that will be distributed from the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Grab & Go Food Centers.
“L.A. Reads” was created in 2017 to help address the literacy crisis in Los Angeles by getting children excited about reading. The program involves Dodgers players, coaches, executives and alumni reading to children and rewards students that participate in the “Dodgers Reading Champions” challenge.
The initiative provides incentives for 1st-8th graders who read more than 30 minutes per day. Through the program, the Dodgers and LADF hope to inspire students to read more than 1.75 million minutes this year.
In 2019, over 6,000 students representing more than 1,100 schools throughout Southern California read a combined total of 1.5 million minutes as part of the “Dodgers Reading Champions” program. LADF has invested $2.4 million in the form of education grants to nonprofit organizations in the local community, with 25% going to directly tackling the literacy crisis.
This includes support to partner organizations such as the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, City Year L.A., Read to a Child, Read Lead, Reading Partners L.A., 826LA and Para Los Niños.
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