Valadez, Melrose, and Rio Vista Schools Come Together for Annual Read for the Record Event

On Thursday, October 26, students at Valadez Middle School Academy hosted first graders from Melrose and Rio Vista elementary schools to participate in the annual worldwide event, “Read for the Record.”

The goal of Jumpstart’s Read for the Record is to bring millions of young children together with valued grownups in their lives to read the same book, on the same day, in communities all around the world. The campaign highlights the importance of building early literacy and language skills for every child so that all students have the opportunity to succeed.

Each year, the Valadez Eagles collaborate with the young students from their feeder elementary schools to enjoy and celebrate reading together. This year, eighth-grade students paired up with their first-grade buddies and were excited to read the book With Lots of Love by author Jenny Torres Sanchez, illustrated by André Ceolin.

The school’s principal, Dr. Christa Borgese, provided a warm welcome to all in attendance and emphasized the importance of the event. “Each year Read for the Record brings together millions of adults and children as they read the same book on the same day, building an intergenerational community through the power of reading. To date, the campaign has amassed 26 million participants worldwide and has facilitated the distribution of hundreds of thousands of high-quality books to children in underserved communities,” she said.

The school’s middle and elementary school students then sat side-by-side and began reading all at once in the quad. Throughout the morning, big and little buddies also participated in activity rotations which included art projects, games, and more. Fundraising efforts for a local non-profit, Solidarity, were also a feature of the event.

Before the day was over, the young students from Melrose and Rio Vista received their own copy of the book With Lots of Love to take home, share, and read with their loved ones.