May 24 – In a continued effort to encourage students to keep reading throughout the summer months, Mayor Byron Brown, joined today by hundreds of students from Waterfront Elementary and Reading Rules partners, kicked-off the 16th annual Mayor Byron W. Brown’s Reading Rules! Kids Summer Reading Challenge.
“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. “I’m pleased to kick off my 16th Anniversary Reading Rules Challenge, and I encourage all city youth to sign up today and participate.”
“Reading Rules!” began in 2001, when Mayor Brown served 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 becoming Mayor, nearly 13,000 students have completed the reading challenge, and submitted written summaries of each book they had read. Mayor Brown remarked that, “Reading Rules! is one of our hallmark initiatives and it gets better and better as the years go on.”
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 and then return the summaries to Mayor Brown in exchange for an invitation to a the program’s final ceremony, which will be held in August. Each student will receive a certificate of achievement and many great prizes donated by the program’s sponsors. High School students entering 9-12 must read at least 4 books to qualify.
Applications can be downloaded or submitted on the city of Buffalo’s home page, www.city-buffalo.com.
Book summaries must be turned in via mail, email or fax by Friday, August 11, 2017. Summaries can also be dropped off in Room 2301 in City Hall. After summaries are submitted, eligible participants will receive an invitation to the program’s final ceremony which will be held at the Buffalo Convention Center.
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.