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TOPEKA -- One million schoolchildren across Kansas have participated in the University of Kansas' 56-year-old Reading Program for Children. On Thursday, May 9, the university will celebrate this milestone and reveal the official one millionth child at a special ceremony at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library in Topeka.
The ceremony is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. in the library auditorium. The one millionth reader is among more than 70 children from a rural Kansas elementary school. Those children will be at the ceremony as the university's special guests.
Speakers will include KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway; Mary Cohen, the U.S. Secretary of Education's representative for Region 7 (based in Kansas City); and JoAnn Smith, dean of KU Continuing Education, which oversees the reading program. The Baby Jay mascot also will make an appearance.
KU's Reading Program for Children has encouraged a million students to develop an early love of reading. The program grew from a conviction that reading for pleasure is an essential element to lifelong learning. In the program, children who read 12 books a year receive a certificate and a silver seal. Children who read at least 25 books a year receive a gold seal. Children who complete four years in the program earn a coveted Jayhawk patch.
Schools interested in participating in the program may visit www.kuce.org or call Pat Flory, KU Continuing Education, at (785) 864-4790 or e-mail pflory@ku.edu.
INFORMATION:
WHEN:
11:30 a.m. Thursday, May 9.
WHERE:
Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, S.W. 10th Street and S.W. Washburn Avenue in Topeka.
Directions from Interstate 70: Take 10th Street exit, turn left onto 10th Street. Go to S.W. Washburn Avenue and turn left. Turn right into library parking lot. Auditorium 101B is located to the left immediately after entering library rotunda. Go to second or third door in corridor.
WHO:
Chancellor Robert Hemenway, U.S. Department of Education representative Mary Cohen and JoAnn Smith, dean of KU Continuing Education.
ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEWS:
There will be opportunities after the ceremony.
ON-SITE CONTACTS: Todd Cohen, KU University Relations, cell (785) 760-3105.
LIBRARY CONTACTS:
Diana Friend, library public relations, (785) 580-4486.
Photos of Chancellor Robert Hemenway, Dean JoAnn Smith and Mary Cohen are available via e-mail from kunews@ku.edu.
ONLINE RESOURCES:
KU Continuing Education
Millionth reader to be recognized
Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library
Mary Cohen, U.S. Department of Education, Region 7
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