October 2011 — Book Zone Press Release
Media Contact: Emily Queliza
Associate Director
Tel (415) 830-0292
Fax (415) 252-9010
equeliza@americascores.org
www.AmericaScoresBayArea.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SAN FRANCISCO, CA — October 2011
America SCORES Kicks Off the BOOK ZONE Field-Side Library at Crocker Amazon
Soccer Moms Help Turn the Page on Tackling Childhood Illiteracy
America SCORES Bay Area kicks off the Fall school semester with their “My Home Library” campaign to help improve literacy for public elementary school students. Throughout San Francisco and in the East Bay, America SCORES is in a unique position to leverage the excitement around the soccer field to help students access books and become life-long readers.
With a goal of 10,000 donated books in the America SCORES library, America SCORES will celebrate the new Game Day “BOOK ZONE” on Saturday, October 8, 2011 at the Crocker Amazon Complex in San Francisco. This field-side library will be a place for the poet-athletes of America SCORES to browse and take home books to be added to their home libraries. A large showing of families from the Mission, Excelsior, Western Addition and Hunter’s Point Bayview expected to attend. To make a donation to the America SCORES library, please visit www.americascoresbayarea.org or call (415) 486-1312.
One study found that in middle income neighborhoods the ratio is 13 books per child; in low-income neighborhoods, the ratio is one book for every 300 children. In San Francisco, nearly two out of three economically disadvantaged students in third grade are below proficient in their reading skills. This future is preventable when something as simple as the number of books a child owns strongly predicts reading achievement — even after controlling for the parents’ education levels and income.
“The America SCORES BOOK ZONE will address three key factors of reading proficiency in an unprecedented way,” explains Marty Mannion, America SCORES Education Director. “Those factors are enjoyment of reading, family involvement and reading routinely. A BOOK ZONE in proximity to the soccer field, where students can see that their teammates, family, friends and coaches all value books, will help us create a culture where reading is as cool and fun as soccer is.”
America SCORES is resolved to help children find their voice. The BOOK ZONE will make books more accessible to children, by helping them learn to love reading as much as they do soccer. America SCORES encourages tackling illiteracy before it becomes a problem by providing children access to the same books we grew up with like Nancy Drew, The Cat in the Hat, and Beverly Cleary’s Ramona series. We can help inspire out-of-school reading habits of students. Studies have shown that even 15 minutes a day of independent reading can expose students to more than a million words of text in a year.
America SCORES Partners & Supporters
San Francisco Unified School District’s (SFUSD) ExCEL After-School Programs, Bay Area Community Resources, the San Francisco Department of Children Youth and their Families (DCYF), San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, and Coach Across America. Primary corporate sponsors include adidas, Starbucks, and the SAK Brand Group.