FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GWINNETT COUNTY, GA. – In an exciting new initiative providing additional support for teachers and educators across America, Preface has launched a series of new “Community Champions'' programs alongside national professional and philanthropic organizations.
Utilizing Preface’s award-winning models and virtual infrastructure, Preface has teamed up with young professional organizations across the country to facilitate weekly virtual group reading sessions, led by Preface-trained Community Champions guest readers. These school-year initiatives provide educators with additional tools to help improve student literacy while engaging with exemplary leaders in their communities.
“With traditions like community guest reading days being put on hold due to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, we wanted to help find ways for communities to continue spreading a love of reading in their own communities virtually,” said Jonathan “JT” Wu, Preface’s Founder and Executive Director. “By training and empowering college students and young professionals using Preface’s innovative models, we’ve been able to engage an entirely new group of service-oriented leaders in the fight for Equality Through Education and Early Childhood Literacy - even allowing some of our post-graduation Ambassadors additional chances to stay connected with their hometowns.”
During the spring of 2021, Preface partnered with three distinct community organizations to facilitate these supplemental guest reading sessions: the Alpha chapter of Pi Beta Phi, the Princeton Varsity Club, and the Gwinnett Young Professionals. Each organization’s partnership has a unique focus.
The Alpha chapter of Pi Beta Phi’s partnership works to provide consistent, supplemental reading instruction for classrooms all across the country. Utilizing Preface’s virtual infrastructure and pre-existing classroom relationships, Pi Phi sorority members have been beamed into classrooms in real-time, reading to elementary school classrooms across the nation on a weekly basis — completely free and by-request.
Preface’s partnership with the Princeton Varsity Club showcases the diverse multilingualism of incredibly talented student-athletes, featuring pre-recorded and freely downloadable bilingual stories for use both inside and outside the classroom. This initiative is the latest development in Preface’s ongoing drive to create a multilingual library of story-times that can be easily downloaded and stored offline on a wide variety of devices.
Finally, Preface teamed up with the Gwinnett Young Professionals during Read Across America Week, partnering with passionate business leaders to bolster community engagement and showcase solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic. This partnership allowed young professional leaders to be featured as guest readers in local classrooms in celebration of Read Across America Week, in which local leaders read their favorite children’s books to classrooms across the community in a safe and secure virtual setting.
“These community leaders are contributing on such an impactful level and really making a difference in these students’ lives,” said Devon Naftzger, the Chief Marketing Officer of Preface. “These partnerships help perpetuate our mission here at Preface: to achieve Equality Through Education and early childhood literacy.”
As Preface aims to continue supporting communities in supercharging early childhood literacy, these supplemental Community Championship partnerships are an exciting new way to provide highly trained and absolutely free reading resources for teachers all across America.
About Preface:
Founded in 2019, Preface is a public-private philanthropic initiative dedicated to fostering Equality Through Education and early childhood literacy - often with a multilingual twist! Partnering with educators and community leaders, Preface empowers local high schoolers to give back to their communities and bridge opportunity gaps by fostering literacy among young students of all backgrounds. A federally recognized 501(c)(3) organization, Preface is proudly headquartered in Gwinnett County, Georgia and serves communities across America. Learn more at www.PrefaceProject.org.
For further inquiries, contact:
Devon Naftzger
Chief Marketing Officer
Preface Public Relations
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