Education Commissioner, Sesame Street’s Elmo Launch Reading Project

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Education Commissioner Timothy Webb joined Sesame Street’s Elmo, along with partners from Nashville Public Television and the Public Broadcasting Service, to launch the PBS KIDS Raising Readers initiative throughout the state.

“Developing a child’s reading ability is the best investment we can make,” Commissioner Webb said. “Reading skills give children a head-start as they begin school and as they continue into college. Programs like Raising Readers complement our efforts already underway with Gov. Bredesen’s Books from Birth and Voluntary Pre-K initiatives.”

Raising Readers is a new literacy initiative to help kids in Tennessee, and all over the country, become better readers. The program utilizes research-based, entertaining content to help meet the urgent literacy needs of kids, age 2-8, especially those from low income families.

The program is part of the Ready To Learn initiative, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, in partnership with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS and the Ready To Learn Partnership.

For more information, please visit www.readytolearnreading.org.