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UIS continues participation in national "Read-In" program

January 27, 2004

SPRINGFIELD - Students, faculty, and administrators from the University of Illinois at Springfield will join over a million readers from across the nation in the 15th Annual African American Read-In on Monday, February 2. That day, members of the UIS community will visit five Springfield elementary schools to read to assemblies of students.

The read-in is sponsored by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English and the NCTE in observance of Black History Month. The program has also been endorsed by the International Reading Association. 

Schools, churches, libraries, bookstores, community and professional organizations, as well as interested citizens are urged to make literacy a significant part of Black History Month and the Read-In is an effort to celebrate black writers and their contributions to literature.

The Springfield read-in sites are Feitshans-Edison Charter School, Graham Elementary, Ridgely Elementary, Wanless Elementary, and McClernand Elementary.  UIS has additionally joined with Enos Elementary by sharing curriculum materials developed in the Center for State Policy and Leadership through the Public Policy High School Initiatives program. Teachers in the participating schools will also receive curriculum materials related to literary and Black History month to develop in their classrooms. 

For more information about the UIS read-in effort, contact coordinator Peggy Dunn at (217) 206-7398. For details about the national read-in, go to www.ncte.org/prog/readin/107901.htm.