U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will host the fifth and final Let's Read! Let"s Move event of 2013 on Tues., Aug. 6, at 11:30 a.m., at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. Joining Duncan, Drew and Jonathan Scott, hosts of HGTV's hit show “Property Brothers,” will guide hundreds of students as they tour the House & Home/Play, Work, Build exhibitions at the National Building Museum. The Property Brothers will help kids get active and excited about reading through storytelling and they will share their experiences of building dream homes.
Kofi Dennis, early childhood education specialist and performer with the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning through the Arts, will lead children in an interactive storytelling experience to kick off the event before the Let’s Read! portion.
The books will be read in front of the Green Schools exhibit at the national Building Museum, which is the first-ever National Building Museum exhibition dedicated to the greening of American schools. Featuring over 40 exemplary projects, from new construction to rehabs to modular classrooms, the exhibition surveys the extraordinary breadth of green school design in the United States through sample building materials, photographs, video and green products. The U.S. Department of Education-Green Ribbon Schools Program is part of the exhibition, as well as a part of the exhibit's resource page.
Following the reading, the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington will lead students in the Let's Move! session of fun, physical activities—such as the Shopping Cart Nutrition Race, Make a Salad Relay and Jumbo Jam Basketball—inspired by First Lady Michelle Obama's initiative to combat childhood obesity by emphasizing healthy eating and an active lifestyle.
The summer enrichment series is part of the Corporation for National and Community Service's United We Serve: Let's Read! Let's Move! initiative, which engages youth in summer reading and physical activity, as well as provides information about healthy, affordable food. The goal of these events is to keep children reading, moving and active over the summer months and to highlight the importance of access to high-quality early learning programs in providing all children a strong start on the path to readiness for school.
"The beginning years of a child's life are critical for building the foundation needed for success later in school, college and career," said Secretary Duncan. "To help all children begin kindergarten on a level playing field, the Administration is continuing to work to expand access to high-quality early learning programs. Let's Read! Let's Move highlights the importance of investing in our nation's youngest students and getting them off to a strong, healthy start."
The Department's Let's Read! Let's Move! series is being carried out in partnership with the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington PHD (Physical, Healthy, Driven) program. Target Corporation will provide healthy snacks, and every child will be able to select a free new book to take home, courtesy of Target and its partnership with First Book. A vegetable and fruit tasting station will be featured, courtesy of Giant Food, a partner of the YMCA.
Preschool- and elementary-aged youngsters from a number of schools and centers in the area (listed below) will attend the Aug. 6 event, as well as the children of Department employees.