[StBernard] Secretary Spellings Launches 2007 Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative

[Westley Annis]

U.S. Department of Education, First BookR and Scholastic Inc. Support 2007
Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative
Initiative provides 500,000 free books for students, families and
communities in hurricane-affected states and encourages children to keep
reading over the summer

FOR RELEASE:
May 14, 2007 Contact: Casey Ruberg
(202) 401-1576
 
Secretary Spellings Launches 2007 Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative  
 
Chalmette, Louisiana - The U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Ray Simon,
First Book Senior Vice President Lynda Lancaster, and Scholastic Inc.
representative Linda Ash today presented free books to Andrew Jackson
Elementary School students as part of the 2007 Gulf Coast Summer Reading
Initiative. In all, Scholastic donated 500,000 children's books, which are
being distributed by the Education Department and First Book to schools,
community organizations and homes in hurricane-affected communities across
the Gulf Coast. Deputy Secretary Simon also presented Doris Voitier,
Superintendent of St. Bernard Parish Public Schools, with a U.S. Department
of Education Leadership Award in recognition of her work to reopen schools
across St. Bernard Parish in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

In a ceremony held at Andrew Jackson Elementary School in Chalmette, La.,
Simon, Lancaster, Ash and Superintendent Doris Voitier stressed the
importance of reading -- especially summer reading -- and hailed the project
to restore book supplies in the Gulf region.

Building on the Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative established in 2006 by
the U.S. Department of Education and First Book, the 2007 Gulf Coast Summer
Reading Initiative, now also in partnership with Scholastic Inc., renewed
its efforts to distribute books to communities affected by hurricanes
Katrina and Rita.

"The 2007 Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative is the kind of partnership
that has been so instrumental in helping the communities throughout this
region get back on their feet and get books back into the hands of
children," Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said. "I'm inspired by
the resilience of Superintendent Voitier and all the educators and students
at Andrew Jackson Elementary School and throughout the Gulf Coast region for
their dedication to restoring our schools and ensuring our students
achieve."

"Doris Voiter's steady leadership has been the perfect example of what smart
disaster recovery should be. As the storm's waters subsided, she took charge
and immediately went about the immense task of rebuilding the St. Bernard
school system and returning her students to their classrooms," said Senator
Mary Landrieu. "She is incredibly deserving of this award, and of every
other accolade she rightly receives in honor of her tremendous service to
our community and children."

Kyle Zimmer, president of First Book, said, "The Gulf Coast Summer Reading
Initiative provides a great opportunity to keep kids engaged in reading
while they're not in school and also serves as a reminder to all of us that
the children, families and schools in this region still need our support.
Thanks to the generous donation of 500,000 books by Scholastic, and the
support of the U.S. Department of Education, First Book is able to bring the
joy of reading back into the lives of thousands of children who lost so much
when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated their communities."

First Book is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to give
children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their own
first new books. The Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative was established in
2006 to support First Book's Book Relief Program, whose aim is to provide
five million books to communities directly impacted by the hurricanes of
2005. Including today's distribution, the U.S. Department of Education and
First Book will have distributed more than one million books to schools,
community libraries, and homes across the Gulf Coast through Book Relief.

Scholastic Inc. is the world's largest publisher and distributor of
children's books and a leader in educational technology and children's
media. In addition to the books distributed at today's event, Scholastic
also donated to each student a "Scholastic My Time: A Box for Comfort and
Fun(tm)" kit, which features age appropriate books, magazines and art
therapy tools that can be used by parents, school officials and community
members to help children overcome stress and anxiety caused by disasters or
crisis situations.

"We are pleased to be working with First Book and the U.S. Department of
Education to help the families and communities of the Gulf Coast support
children whose lives were affected by the 2005 hurricane season," said Karen
Proctor, vice president of community affairs at Scholastic. "Scholastic My
Time is inspired by the understanding that kids who have lived through
disasters often struggle to learn because of the stress of their situations.
Our goal is to help parents guide their children through emotional
recovery."

For more information on hurricane related support from the U.S. Department
of Education, visit:
http://hurricanehelpforschools.gov/030206-factsheet.html and
http://hurricanehelpforschools.gov/summer-reading.html.

For more information on the Book Relief program visit:
http://www.bookrelief.org/.

For more information on Scholastic's My Time: A Box for Comfort and FunT"
kit, visit: http://www.scholastic.com/mytime/.

###