McKinney’s McGowen Elementary to host first annual African American Read-In for Black History Month

by PegNews wire

The event is in association with the Nineteenth Annual National African American Read-In.

MCKINNEY - Students at McGowen Elementary School (4300 Columbus Drive)) in the McKinney Independent School District will hold the First Annual African American Read-In for Black History Month on Monday, Feb. 4. The students will read books authored by African Americans throughout the day. In addition, McKinney ISD Board of Trustees President, Mr. Wade Johnson, will visit the school at 1:15 p.m. to read books authored by African Americans to kindergarten students at the school.

The event is in association with the Nineteenth Annual National African American Read-In which is sponsored by the Black Caucus of National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). The organization encourages schools, churches, libraries, bookstores, community and professional organizations and interested citizens to make literacy a significant part of Black History Month by hosting and coordinating Read-Ins in their communities. Participants in the event are asked to select books authored by African Americans, conduct the Read-In on the days designated and report the results via the 2008 African American Read-In Report Card.

The Read-In is endorsed by the International Reading Association and involves more than one million readers of all ethnic groups from 49 states, the West Indies and African countries. The goal is to make the celebration of African American literacy a traditional part of Black History Month activities.

For more information about the National African American Read-In visit http://www.ncte.org/prog/readin/107901.htm. For more information about the McGowen Elementary First Annual African American Read-In, contact Statia Paschel, coordinator of the event at 469-742-7562 or by e-mail at spaschel@mckinneyisd.net or contact Cathy Vance, Library Media Specialist at McGowen at 469-742-7517 or by e-mail at cvance@mckinneyisd.net.

For more information about the McKinney Independent School District, contact Cody Cunningham, Assistant to the Superintendent for Communications at 469-742-4095 or by e-mail at cocunningham@mckinneyisd.net.

Source: MISD