The original item was published from 8/28/2021 8:24:00 AM to 8/28/2021 8:30:51 AM.

News Flash

What's Happening

Posted on: June 1, 2021

[ARCHIVED] Mayor Brown To Celebrate The 20th Anniversary Of Reading Rules! With A Special Ceremony

READING RULES GRADUATION AND AWARDS CEREMONY WILL AIR HERE SATURDAY, AUGUST 28 AT NOON

Mayor Byron W. Brown is gearing up for Saturday’s virtual Reading Rules! Kids Summer Reading Challenge Awards Ceremony, which will be lived streamed on August 28th, beginning at 10 AM, on Mayor Brown’s Facebook page. Residents can follow Mayor Brown on Facebook by visiting facebook/ com/MayorByronBrown. The ceremony can also be viewed on the City of Buffalo website at www.buffalony.gov or the City’s YouTube channel. To subscribe to the City of Buffalo’s YouTube Channel, visit buffalony.gov/ subscribe.

Mayor Brown stated, “I am proud of this year’s Reading Rules! Champion Readers and I thank them for making the 20th Anniversary of my Reading Rules! Kids Summer Reading Challenge an overwhelming success. This year, nearly 2,000 youth completed two reading challenges, increasing the number of Champion Readers in our community to nearly 24,000. A special thanks to our generous sponsors for supporting participants by donating amazing incentives to keep them reading and writing over the summer months. Together, we continue to help our young people sharpen their academic skills in preparation for the new school year. Congratulations, Champion Readers!”

In a continued effort to help keep City of Buffalo youth and community members safe during the summer as we deal with this next phase of the pandemic, the 20th Anniversary Reading Rules! Kids Summer Reading Challenge and Awards Ceremony will take place completely online again year. The challenge kicked off on June 1st and ran through August 20th. During that time, participants completed two challenges, reading a total of ten books and writing ten book summaries.

Mayor Brown established this significant summer educational program 20 years ago when he received alarming statistics about local students who were testing below the New York State average in English Language Arts and Literacy. To date, nearly 24,000 students from the Greater Buffalo-Niagara Region have improved their literacy proficiency skills by participating in Reading Rules!

Champion Readers who completed BOTH Challenge #1 and Challenge #2 were entered into special prize giveaways, as well as the overall Grand Prize Drawing which will be live streamed on Mayor Brown’s Facebook page on Saturday, August 28th.

Every Champion Reader will be mailed a 2021 Reading Rules Diploma, as well as a Bonus PrizeEnvelope filled with an assortment of prizes from Mister Pizza, Anderson’s, and the Buffalo Botanical Gardens. Grand prizes include such items as bikes, bike helmets, laptops, Kindles, Fitbits, backpacks filled with school supplies, gift cards to local retailers, and academic scholarship funds from the Buffalo Metropolitan Federal Credit Union, Bank on Buffalo, and M&T Bank. Only bikes will be delivered to the homes of winners. All other items will be mailed.

"We applaud the mayor's efforts to promote literacy, especially now after all our students have been through this past year. We know that reading competency is directly linked to high school graduation and postsecondary success, and as a community we need programs and opportunities like this now more than ever,” said David Rust, Executive Director, Say Yes Buffalo.

"I encourage all students to read and enjoy books all summer long as part of Mayor Brown’s annual Reading Rules Program," said Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash. "Reading stimulates our imagination, expands our understanding of the world, and prepares us for a lifetime of learning. Reading keeps students’ brains strong in preparation for all academics! Keep up the excellent work and enjoy the rest of your summer!"

“Project Flight’s mission is to have every child have a book and read it at grade level; that a child will live in a literate environment whether at home or at school and that literacy is an entree out of poverty. To date, for this program, there have been over 100,000 books donated, worth approximately $1,000,000. Project Flight is honored to be a part of Mayor Brown’s Summer Reading Program,” said Project FLIGHT Co-Director, Dr. Betty Cappella. The Mayor, through this program exemplifies everything that is important to helping children become the heroes of their own lives.”

“The Buffalo Bisons Charitable Foundation is proud to support Mayor Byron Brown and the Byron Brown Reading Rules Program that for two decades now has provided a wonderful opportunity for the children of Western New York to take their education to a championship level!,” said Michael Buczkowski, President of Rich Baseball Operations.

In a continued effort to help keep City of Buffalo youth and community members safe during the summer, the 20^th Anniversary Reading Rules! Kid’s Summer Reading Challenge and Awards Ceremony for Champion Readers will take place completely online again year.

“Last year’s very successful Virtual Reading Rules! Kids Summer Reading Challenge took a lot of planning and creativity, but we developed new incentives, including fun prizes awarded at the end of the two challenge sessions. We expect even greater success in 2021,” Mayor Brown said.

“Literacy and learning skills are some of the most important factors in wellness and health equity, which are core to our mission as the region’s comprehensive cancer center,” said Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center President & CEO Candace S. Johnson, PhD. “We applaud Mayor Brown’s leadership through the outstanding Reading Rules program, which has already instilled the love of reading in thousands of young minds across our region.”

Mayor Brown established this significant summer educational program 20 years ago when he received alarming statistics about local students who were testing below the New York State average in English Language Arts and Literacy. Since then, over 22,000 children from the Greater Buffalo-Niagara Region have improved their literacy proficiency skills by participating in Reading Rules!

Here’s how Mayor Brown’s 2021 Virtual Reading Rules! Challenge will work:

KID’S SUMMER READING CHALLENGE #1

Read 5 books + Submit 5 Written Book Summaries between June 1 - July 9, 2021 to be eligible for a prize drawing during the week of July 12th!

KID’S SUMMER READING CHALLENGE #2

Read 5 books + Submit 5 Written Book Summaries between July 12 - August 20, 2021 to be eligible for a prize drawing during the week of August 23rd!

Champion Readers who complete BOTH Challenge #1 and Challenge #2 will be entered into the Grand Prize Drawing which will take place during Mayor Brown’s Virtual Reading Rules! Awards Ceremony which will take place on Saturday, August 28, 2021.

Every Champion Reader will receive a 2021 Reading Rules Diploma, as well as a Bonus Prize Envelope filled with an assortment of prizes. Those bonus prizes include such items as: bicycles, bike helmets, laptops, Kindles, Fitbits, backpacks filled with school supplies, academic scholarship funds, and gift cards to Dick’s, Target, and other retailers.

Readers can begin signing up for Reading Rules! 2021 can register starting today at: www.buffalony.gov/readingrules.

Tune in to watch Mayor Brown’s Online Graduation & Awards Ceremony for Champion Readers, scheduled for Sat., August 28, 2021 at 10 a.m. @ www.buffalony.gov

Here’s a list of this year’s Reading Rules! sponsors:

Title Sponsors:
City of Buffalo

Police Athletic League of Buffalo, Inc.

Buffalo Public Schools

SAY YES to Education Buffalo

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

Buffalo Bisons Charitable Foundation

Scholar Sponsors:

Project Flight

The Teacher's Desk

AT&T

M&T Bank