Dr. Jack Miller, CCSU President, Leads Meetings for New Britain’s Business Community on April 6th and 8th to Address Critically Poor Reading Scores of New Britain’s School Children
New Britain, Conn. (March 29 , 2011) – The Community Foundation of Greater New Britain (CFGNB), New Britain School District and New Britain Chamber of Commerce are hosting breakfast meetings on April 6th and 8th for the business community as the official launch of New Britain’s Grade Level Reading Campaign (NBGLRC). Dr. Jack Miller, President of CCSU and member of the CFGNB Board of Directors, will present along with Ivette Ruiz, NBGLRC Campaign Manager.
The team will address the dire facts;
• In three of the last four years, the City of New Britain has had the lowest reading scores among its third graders in the state.
• Two-thirds of the children starting fourth grade in New Britain can’t read at grade level
And they will explain how engaging all aspects of the New Britain Community, especially the business community, can effectively address and improve this problem. Specific asset-mapping meetings will take place later in April as the next step to applying resources of the community in a concrete way to improving reading level scores among New Britain’s young students.
“There are many circumstances that have led to these devastating statistics; among them poverty and a high percentage of children growing up in homes where English is not the primary language. But there isn’t a singular solution. All children and all issues need to be addressed,” explains Ruiz. “Teachers alone can’t fix this, and parents alone can’t fix this. We really must engage the entire community, and that’s where the Grade Level Reading Campaign comes in. We know by facilitating all the amazing resources and smart, caring individuals in New Britain, we can turn around these statistics and improve the lives of our children which will ultimately improve our community too. ”
Event Details:
Dates: Wednesday, April 6th at ITBD or Friday, April 8th at CCSU
Time: 7:30 AM to 9:00 AM
Register: Madison@newbritainchamber.com, or call 860-229-1665
About The NBGLRC
The Campaign was recently created to dramatically improve the reading skills of New Britain’s children. It is a partnership between the New Britain Early Childhood Collaborative (NBECC) and the New Britain school district to engage the broader community in the task of improving literacy. The Campaign receives funding from The William Casper Graustein Memorial Fund, The Children’s Fund of CT, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the State Department of Education. The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading builds on the Blueprint for New Britain’s Young Children, which was developed by the NBECC with the involvement of a broad range of stakeholders from across the city. NBECC is funded in-part and housed by The Community Foundation of Greater New Britain (CFGNB).
NBGLRC Contact:
Ivette Ruiz, MHS, HS-BCP Campaign Manager for New Britain Grade Level Reading Campaign
860.229.6018 x308
iruiz@newbritainreads.org
About The Community Foundation of Greater New Britain
Established in 1941, the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain connects donors who care with causes that matter in Berlin, New Britain, Plainville and Southington. It does this by raising resources and developing partnerships that make a measurable improvement in the quality of life in each of these communities. www.cfgnb.org
Media Contact:
Mary Engvall, Andrea Obston Marketing Communications
m.e.marketing@comcast.net
860.205.3519
For more information and resources, please visit our online newsroom at www.aomcnewsroom.wordpress.com
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