United Way volunteers celebrate Read Across America Day all week
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — This is the week we celebrate and encourage reading all across the country.
Dozens of United Way volunteers gathered in East Hartford Thursday morning to kick off the local Read Across America Day. It's really celebrated all week, because reading is that important.
In Your Neighborhood: Laura Hutchinson and Alyssa Taglia participate in Read Across America Week
'Strong literacy skills promote an understanding, a connection, and a deeper engagement with the world around us,' East Hartford Public Schools Superintendent Thomas Anderson said.
Those volunteers then spread out across the town's elementary schools to read books provided by American Eagle Financial Credit Union.
'Today, we're talking about raising up these kids,' said Howard Brady, the credit union's president & CEO. 'Expanding their minds, planting the seeds for the future, helping them understand what's possible to unlock some of that real potential.'
East Hartford Mayor Connor Martin (D) was among those reading 'I Am More Than' by NBA superstar Lebron James.
'With the book that we have today that really is just push the message of believing in yourself and not giving up,' Martin said. 'Knowing your worth, I think, is such a timely message for our youth today.'
Just the United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut alone has some 200 volunteers out reading to more than 4,000. A focus on early reading lays the foundation for all the learning to come in these young scholars future.
'We're going to give a gift back to these kids today, but remember, one of the best gifts we can ever receive is to see the world through a child's eyes, and we are going to see that happen exactly today,' Brady said.
So the readers gain a lot from Read Across America Day, too.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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