November 3, 2004

For Immediate Release

Contact:  Jan Winslow

Fresno State Student-Athletes Collecting Children's Books for ReadFresno Drive  

      FRESNO, Calif.— Knowing that reading at an early age sparks an eagerness to learn, Fresno State student-athletes are raising awareness for early childhood education.  As a result, the Bulldogs are getting involved by collecting children's books for the inaugural ReadFresno Drive.

      The Fresno State Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) is hitting the pavement early by not only collecting books on their own but also hosting a book drive on Fri., Nov. 12, at Bulldog Stadium when Fresno State entertains Hawai'i in its second to last home football appearance. 

      While all the Bulldogs' sports are committed to collecting kindergarten through third grade books, donations are being taken now as the goal is to get books in the hands of children to improve their reading skills.

"The SAAC has a leadership role among Fresno State student-athletes and they feel that being involved in the early phases of this new organization is extremely worthwhile," said Kelly Paramo, who is the staff advisor for SAAC as well as a learning assistance specialist in the Fresno State Athletics Department.  "They are very pleased and excited to take on a project promoting education. 

"There are several community projects we're involved in as teams and as a whole athletics department like Kids Day, Red Ribbon Week and Big Heroes-Little Heroes" Paramo said.  "We're excited to be involved in something that will have a long-term effect.  We're happy to add this to our list of community service projects."

      The vision of ReadFresno literacy project is to get every child to read at grade level by the end of the third grade.  To accomplish this, ReadFresno will launch a four-site pilot project that will expand to a community-wide literacy initiative for children pre-kindergarten through third grade.  Using an army of trained and certified volunteers, ReadFresno will work in collaboration with schools, institutions and community and faith-based organizations.  The focus of this initiative will be on those children reading below grade level, targeting children in neighborhoods surrounding the fifty lowest-performing elementary schools in Fresno County.

      "This project is important for our community," Fresno State Athletics Director Scott Johnson said.  "We will do whatever we can to help raise the literacy rates in our communities.  I invite the community to bring their books to the Fresno State-Hawai'i football game so our student-athletes can get them in the hand of young children."

      Wanting to ensure young children have the literacy tools needed to succeed, ReadFresno has some startling facts showcasing the need for such a project:

      -- 92% of low-level readers in third grade will not go to college

      -- 61% of low-income families have no children's books in their homes

      -- 80% of the prison population are either low-level or non-readers

      -- CAT/6 Reading Scores for third graders:  80% scored below the national average

      -- STAR Language Arts for third graders:  81% scored below the "Proficient Level"

      For more information, please visit ReadFresno.org or contact Dr. Skip Sherwood, Professor Emeritus of Marketing (559) 250-8977 or Jacqueline Williams of One by One Leadership at (559) 233-2000, ext. 127. 

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