This strikes a cord with me because I grew up in house where the ratio of books to a kid was like 100 books to a kid. There was a library not that far away that we went to regularly and my parents encouraged reading. I didn't know this was going on.
Me: I'm bored Parents: There's a bookshelf right there, you have no reason to be bored. Also, because of those factors I was reading at 6th grade level in 3rd grade. To hear that the ratio of books to a kid in a low income neighborhood is 1 book to 300 kids makes me appreciate what I had and want to do something about this. On 12/11/2015 05:04 PM, Gabriel Gunderson wrote: > I got some great feedback privately stating that they needed more > context. Most visitors land on that page from an email that sends them > there. Here is a snippet from that email: > > > """ > Why Children’s Books Are Important > > According to the United Way, there are more than a dozen books per > child in middle-income neighborhoods, but in low-income neighborhoods > the ratio is closer to one book for every 300 children. In Utah County > alone, 29 percent of children are in a low-income family. That’s > 34,931 children — and that’s just accounting for one county in Utah. > > We must come together as a community to solve this problem. Getting > books in the hands of children early is critical because we know third > grade reading ability is one of the strongest indicators for later > success. Students who read at grade level in third grade are four to > six times more likely to graduate from high school. In just Utah > County, almost 20% (one out of five) of third graders do not read at > grade level and are therefore at greater risk of dropping out. In > 2014, approximately 970 students dropped out of high school in just > Utah County. > > There is a shortage of children’s books in our state, and we’re > lagging behind the rest of the country when it comes to childhood > literacy. Startup Santa would like to help. > """ > > Again, thanks! > > Best, > Gabe > > On Fri, Dec 11, 2015 at 4:06 PM, Gabriel Gunderson <g...@gundy.org> wrote: >> All, >> >> I wanted to bring this to your attention: >> >> https://startupsanta.org/ >> >> Every dollar and every book go directly to underprivileged kids in >> Utah. Most of us were raised in homes were reading, learning and >> studying were encouraged and we're better for it :) >> >> I'd encourage you to get your company signed up in this friendly >> competition and for you and your co-workers to make difference in the >> lives of children right here in our backyards. >> >> Thank you for your time and Happy >> (Holidays|(Christ|X|Winter-een-)mas|(Ch|H)ann?ukk?ah|Kwa(nza|anz)a|New >> Year's (Eve|Day)|(Boxing|Zamenhof) Day|Yule(tide)?|Winter(val|s >> Day|fair)|Festiv(us|al of the Bells)) ! >> >> >> Gabe > > /* > PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net > Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug > Don't fear the penguin. > */ > -Josh I sometimes go by my middle and last names: "Wayne Mudge" and that is what this email is under, but I would like to be referred to as Josh. My GPG/PGP key is attached for those who are interested, The key ID is 5C4B0B2E. It's fingerprint is: 1823 3763 AA2B 116E 615E 2F72 7A0E 67B5 5C4B 0B2E
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/* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
