Buffalo, N.Y. – Mayor Byron W. Brown today celebrated the success of more than 2,000 local K-12 grade students who successfully completed the 16th Annual Mayor’s Reading Rules! Summer Reading Challenge.
Many of this summer’s Champion Readers and their families gathered at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center for a celebration that included breakfast, entertainment and prizes.
“I am so proud of the more than 2,000 students - the largest group ever - who completed the challenge to become Champion Readers. The City of Buffalo has an extraordinary literary history and legacy that we hope to make even stronger by helping to improve literacy among young people in Buffalo,” said Mayor Brown. “Reading Rules! is one of our hallmark initiatives and it gets better and better as the years go on.” Mayor Brown began “Reading Rules!” in 2001, while serving in the New York State Senate, as a way to address the literacy problem in New York State, specifically in Buffalo and Western New York. Since 2006, nearly 15,000 students have completed what is now known as Mayor Byron W. Brown’s Reading Rules! Summer Reading Challenge.
“Reading skills are essential to put the children of our city on a path to high school graduation, higher education and careers. Improved literacy enriches not only the lives of individuals, but leads to a higher quality of life for the entire City of Buffalo,” Mayor Brown said.
To become Reading Champions, children entering grades K-8 must read 7 books from the provided list over the course of the summer, write a brief summary of 8-10 sentences on each book. High School students entering 9-12 must read at least 4 books to qualify.
Each reader who completed the challenge and returned their summaries to Mayor Brown was invited to today’s celebration and received a certificate of achievement.
This year’s sponsors and partners include: the City of Buffalo, Buffalo Police Athletic League, Buffalo Zoo, Buffalo Water operated by Veolia Water, Delaware North Companies, M&T Bank, AT&T, Buffalo Metropolitan Federal Credit Union, Buffalo Museum of Science, National Fuel, Buffalo Public Schools, BTF, Read to Succeed Buffalo, Buffalo Niagara Convention Center, Buffalo & Erie County Library, Project Flight, Buffalo History Museum, Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Wegmans, ADPRO Sports, New Era, RP Oak Hill, KeyBank, Buffalo Sabres, Mighty Taco, Say Yes to Education Buffalo, Buffalo Bills, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Tops Friendly Markets, Ferguson Electric, Canisius College, University at Buffalo, Ted’s Hot Dogs, EP Books & Media, UPS, Bak USA, National Grid, West Herr Ford, Your Care, Upstate Farms, Target, Frey Electric Construction, Desi’s Produce, Spot Coffee, NFTA-Metro, Dupon Yerkes, MetroPCS, First Student, Lamparelli Construction Company, Sky Zone, G4S, Talking Leaves Books, and University Pediatric Dentistry.