In celebration of Children's Magazine Month this October, MagazineLiteracy.org kicks off its new national literacy program by bringing together a small business owner and a community service organization to sponsor Spider magazine for two third grade classrooms at Moraine Meadows Elementary School in Kettering, Ohio. Kyle Andrews of Pretium Partners, Inc. and the Kettering Noon Optimist Club have each adopted a class, providing each child with a year of Spider magazine. The generous donations will help Moraine Meadows third grade teachers Debbie Morton and Rachel Williams teach their students to read at a critical stage of their development. According to John Mennell, founder of the MagazineLiteracy.org web site, "this inaugural partnership between a small business, a community service organization, and a school represents a perfect example that will inspire many other programs in communities across America, so teachers and other literacy agents, magazine mentors, and especially children can benefit from the wonderful joy of learning to read with magazines."

Mennell explained that, “illiteracy is a dangerous threat to our free, democratic, and productive society. Half of the U.S. adult population is seriously illiterate. The simple truth is that Illiterate adults were once children whose reading skills never developed. A lack of reading materials in the home further compounds the problem. This is what makes children’s magazines such a powerful family literacy tool for breaking the cycle – child and parent exploring their world together through the fresh ideas presented in a magazine that comes home from school each month.”

“Children’s Magazines are important and powerful tools in the fight against illiteracy in the U.S. We can remember those magazines that brought us so much joy as children. Even as adults, we anticipate the arrival of our favorite magazine subscriptions,” said Mennell. “Few treasures brighten a child's eyes, smile and intellect like a magazine. By arranging for monthly copies with a child's name printed on a label, the project builds self-esteem while offering the simple joy of reading to children. With computers and the Internet playing an ever increasing role in shaping the experiences of young people, the effort is more timely and more compelling than ever before,” he added.

MagazineLiteracy.org, a program of the Magazine Publishers Family Literacy Project, Incorporated. was devised to help kids learn to read and build their self-esteem by providing wonderful children's magazines free to schools, and other reading programs that would otherwise not be able to afford them. MagazineLiteracy.org was launched on International Literacy Day, September 8, 2004, and leverages the combined power of the Internet and children's magazines to support teachers and other literacy agents dedicated to helping children enjoy reading. The unique project is national in scope, but is made possible by local community partnerships between business and other sponsors and teachers in schools and other literacy agents. 100% of the support contributed by local sponsors provides magazines for kids in community reading programs.

Children's Magazine Month is an initiative of the Association of Educational Publishers (www.edpress.org).

Spider is one of 15 award-winning magazines published by the Cricket Magazine Group and Cobblestone Publishing (www.cobblestonepub.com).

For more information, visit: http://magazineliteracy.org/