BRANDEIS’ FIRST EVER READATHON: an event to promote reading, taking breaks from finals and raising money for literacy programs!!!
What will we be reading?
From 6-8 we will have open reading; bring your own book, textbook, collection of poems, sketches, etc. and read it aloud for up to 10 minutes!
Based on popular vote, from 8-whenever we will read books from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series and the Harry Potter series.
One person at a time will read out loud so if you’d like to sign up in advance on the event wall. For each page you read you will receive a raffle ticket, and at the end of the night we will pick a winner, who will receive a $30 GIFT CARD TO THE BRANDEIS BOOKSTORE!
Want to help in ways other than donating $$$?
Anyone can bring BOOKS they no longer need and they will be donated to More Than Words and other literacy groups in Waltham.
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The Reasons for this Event:
1. It’s fun.
2. According to the U.S. Dept of Education, 9% of the population of Middlesex County (which contains Waltham) aged 16 and up lacks basic literacy prose skills. While the MA sample population was more literate than the nation on average, there is still a lot of room for improvement. Reading allows the transference of values, knowledge of cultures and more. Check out: http://nces.ed.gov/naal/estimates/StateEstimates.aspx for stats.
How We Want to Help:
1. We’re going to collect money for Famni Ki Li Ansamn, or Families Reading Together, a group which helped organize this event. Famni Ki Li Asamn is a literacy organization founded by Brandeis University students and teachers which provides beautiful children’s picture books about Haiti to Haitian families in the US and Haiti. Professor Jane Hale and her Experiential Learning students helped make this event possible. For more information, check out: http://www.brandeis.edu/haiti/famni-ki-li-ansamn/index.html
2. In addition, we can get the word out there about more literacy programs. The organization of this event was assisted by the English Language Learning Initiative, a group founded in the Spring of 2001 and which offers English tutoring for all interested Brandeis employees. For more information: http://my.brandeis.edu/clubs/esl