NBOA has partnered with Page Ahead, a Seattle non-profit that provides new books and develops reading activities that empower at-risk children. Since 1990, Page Ahead has placed almost 1.7 million new books into the hands of 550,000 at-risk children through collaborations with schools, social service agencies, preschools, and early childhood centers across Washington State.
As part of this year's Symposium, we are asking attendees to bring at least one new book to donate to the program. Bookshelves will be available at the NBOA registration desk and attendees can donate as many new books to this great cause as they would like to bring. Monetary donations can also be given as well.
Page Ahead operates on one simple and astounding fact: being read to as a youngster is the foremost predictor of academic success in childhood. If a child can read at grade level by 3rd grade, he or she will continue to read at grade level throughout her academic career. Children with literacy problems typically come from low-income families, have no books at home, and have caregivers who are not aware of the importance of reading to their children. Yet studies have proven, beyond dispute, that access to age-appropriate books and reading aloud to children are essential to developing language and reading skills. Succeeding begins with reading.
Page Ahead was founded in 1990 as "Books for Kids" by individuals from the Seattle Chamber of Commerce's "Leadership Tomorrow" program. This team of volunteers developed the concept and raised money to hire a coordinator to operate the program. Books for Kids established its own office in October, 1994. The name was changed to Page Ahead in 2001.