“Statistics to studies to research all tell us that if we can keep children in school and help them graduate and be a productive student, they’re less likely to commit crime and end up in jail or prison,” Kelly said after an animated reading of “Officer Buckle and Gloria.”
In June, Gov. John Kasich signed into law a third-grade reading guarantee that will require some low-performing students to repeat the third grade based on their performance on the reading portion of the Ohio Achievement Test.
“It raises the stakes for everyone, particularly schools and educators,” said Widener, who read “Duck for President” to 18 preschoolers at Creative World. “There’s going to be a lot of stress on educators, school systems and the parents.”
Similar reading events have happened across Ohio, said Cynthia Rees, state director of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Ohio, the organization that organized the event.
Widener said the state legislature emphasized flexibility for funding that came with the guarantee to encourage districts to make the best use of their resources to improve literacy rates in the early years.
“We are so excited about the third-grade reading guarantee and what that means for early childhood (education),” said Karen Lampe, president of Creative World. “We’ve known for years how important these early years are in laying a foundation for future success.”
Savanna Lightfoot, 5, will start kindergarten next year. She said the story Kelly read was one of the funniest she’s ever heard.
“I like stories because they’re so fun,” she said.
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