Helping Kids Become Successful Readers
In January 2020, the Mora Creative Council began a partnership with an organization called First Book. First Book believes that the best way out of poverty is education and aims to remove barriers to quality education by providing books, clothing, snacks, sports equipment, and other basic necessities to children in need. Since its founding in 1992, the organization has distributed more than 185 million books and educational resources to schools and programs serving low-income communities in more than 30 countries. First Book currently reaches an average of 5 million kids each year and supports an estimated 1.3 million classrooms and programs serving children in need.
The partnership between First Book and the MCC has proved valuable in many ways. Through First Book, we have been able to secure low-cost books for our various reading programs and book-giving events. Books that typically retail for $16 are available for as low as $2 on the First Book marketplace! First Book was also very responsive to the COVID-19 pandemic, providing educators and organizations with free access to Red Apple Reading.
Red Apple Reading is an online program that works like a reading tutor for supplemental basic skills in reading, filling in the gaps with explicit direct instruction and guided practice. The program typically costs $100 per year for 3 students, but through our partnership with First Book, we were able to get this service free of charge! There is no cost to us or to families who would like to sign up for this program. It is geared towards children ages 4-8 (but older kids can be registered as well) and can be accessed through a computer or an app for one calendar year. The MCC had the capacity to serve 60 children with this program, and we have received 23 registrations so far. This means there are still 37 slots open, and the program will run until March 2021.
Overall, the program has a value of $2,000 and it is available to us completely free of charge, so be sure to register your child today! To register, email us at ourmoranm@gmail.com with the following information:
• Your child’s full name
• Your child’s date of birth
• Your child’s grade level
Our thanks go out First Book and Red Apple Reading for providing the Mora community with such a wonderful opportunity for our youth!