Efforts March 2 and Throughout the Rest of the Year Will Help Promote a Love of Reading in Elementary School Children
(WOODBRIDGE) — To help promote a love of reading in school-aged children in New Jersey, Assemblyman Craig J. Coughlin is participating in “National Read Across America Day.”
“Increasing literacy rates in young children has to be one of our top educational priorities,” said Coughlin (D-Middlesex), a member of the Assembly Higher Education Committee and a former South Amboy Board of Education member. “Too often kids get to college without strong reading and writing skills. Programs like ‘Read Across America’ aim to change that.”
Read Across America is an annual reading motivation and awareness program, created in 1998 by the National Education Association (NEA) to motivate children to read. The annual event is held on March 2, the birthday of celebrated children’s author Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.
Coughlin will be participating in nine Read Across America events in the 19th Legislative District throughout the week, beginning on Tuesday, March 2:
- March 2:
- In the morning, the Assemblyman will be reading to two elementary classes in the Carteret School District;
- In the afternoon, he will be reading to second and fourth graders in the Woodbridge Township School District.
- Wednesday, March 3:
- In the morning, Coughlin will read to four kindergarten classes in his native South Amboy School District;
- Following that, he will read to a first and third grade class in the Parlin section of Sayreville.
- Friday, March 5:
- Assemblyman Coughlin will read to second and fifth graders in the Perth Amboy School District.
The Assemblyman said he plans to read selections from Dr. Seuss and from several social studies texts. He also plans to hold additional reading events at schools in the district throughout the rest of the year.
“My wife, Tish, and I always did our best to instill our love of reading in our children,” said Coughlin. “Reading is the gateway to the imagination; anything and everything can happen on the printed page. It’s my hope that the children I meet this week get to experience a little bit of that magic and continue to pursue it on their own, long after my visit.”
“Dr. Seuss truly said it best,” Coughlin continued. “The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you will go.”
The 19th Legislative District consists of the Middlesex County municipalities of Carteret, Perth Amboy, Sayreville, South Amboy and Woodbridge.
For more information on specific stops Coughlin will be making, please contact his district office directly at 732-855-7441 or AsmCoughlin@njleg.org.
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