The Reading Rainbow Kickstarter Project
I recently contributed to the Kickstarter project to help Reading Rainbow. I did this for several reasons:
- I am a huge Star Trek: The Next Generation fan, so getting a signed headshot from LeVar Burton is quite appealing. If you’ve watched the show Community, you might remember Troy’s reaction to meeting Mr. Burton (below).
- LeVar Burton is just plain great. He seems genuinely interested in promoting literacy, and as a librarian, I greatly appreciate that.
- The project for which they’re raising money seems to be targeting classrooms and students particularly at risk for perpetuating the cycle of illiteracy.
The project met their original goal, $1 million, within just a few hours, but now they’ve raised the bar to try to get $5 million and reach even more classrooms. I’ll be very interested in watching how much they end up raising and what they’re able to do with the money. I look forward to using the app with my daughter.
When technology can engage kids in so many ways, getting kids interested in just a paper version of a book may be daunting. Expanding the ways in which they’re engaged, as through interactive apps, maybe they’ll be encouraged to keep going, keep learning, and stay interested in reading. Life-long reading is critical to success, so I appreciate anything that promotes literacy and an appreciation for learning.
