Look To The Stars News: Jumpstart

Jumpstart Sets New Charity Record For Reading

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Jumpstart’s Read for the Record 2009 campaign officially set a new record for the world’s largest shared reading experience. On Oct. 8th, adults across the globe read Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar to 2,019,752 children! This year’s campaign shattered the previous record of 688,000, set by Jumpstart’s Read for the Record 2008.

Presented in partnership with sponsor and founding partner Pearson, Jumpstart’s Read for the Record is a celebration of reading and community service created to raise awareness about how important reading with young children is to developing crucial early language and literacy skills for success in school and in life. This year’s campaign donated more than 275,000 books and raised more than $1.4 million to support Jumpstart’s year-long work with preschool children. Donations are still being accepted at www.readfortherecord.org/donate.

Congress officially declared October 8, 2009 as Jumpstart’s Read for the Record Day and celebrities, governors, first ladies, members of Congress, mayors, and business, philanthropic and community leaders joined the campaign in major cities including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

The record-breaking day’s events kicked off on NBC’s TODAY Show with hosts Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira, Jumpstart President James Cleveland, and Bill Barke, Jumpstart Board Member and CEO, Pearson’s Higher Ed Arts & Sciences Group, as well as celebrity readers including campaign spokesperson Mary-Louise Parker, Tiki Barber, Justin Bieber, Jenna Bush Hager, Giada de Laurentiis, Sonia Manzano, Madison Pettis, Jennifer Stone, Vince Vaughn and The Very Hungry Caterpillar author Eric Carle.

In Los Angeles 100 children were joined by Lo Bosworth of MTV’s The Hills, Actor Henry Winkler, Emily Osment of Disney’s Hannah Montana, and Bill Nye the Science Guy to read. Others at the event included Beth Wray, President, Pearson Learning Teams and Superintendent Dr. Darline Robles, LA County Office of Education.

Look To The Stars attended a special reading in New York by Nelly Furtado. We were also lucky enough to interview Lo Bosworth about her involvement with Jumpstart.

Jumpstart was founded in 1993 at Yale University at the intersection of two national trends: the public need for quality early childhood programs and the emerging national service movement recruiting thousands of college students to community service. During the first year of the program, 15 college students worked one-to-one with 15 preschoolers at New Haven Head Start.

Nelly Furtado Reads For The Record

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:00:00 -0000

Written by Regina Walton

Look To The Stars’ Regina Walton attended a very special reading of a classic children’s story and filed this report.

On September 14, singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado went to the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) Daycare Center as a spokesperson for Jumpstart’s Read for the Record campaign. During this event they announced that a limited edition of Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which is the Read for the Record official campaign book, will be on sale at WalMart stores nationwide.

Read for the Record will take place on October 8, 2009. The goal is to break the world record as adults read the same book on the same day to more than one million children across the USA. Another goal of the campaign is to raise both awareness and funds to support Jumpstart’s work. Jumpstart works with preschool children in low-income communities. The organization is working toward the day when all children enter school prepared to succeed. In addition to Ms. Furtado, the program’s co-sponsors were there. Stacy Morrison, the Editor-in-Chief of Redbook, started off the conference. Also, Michelle Gilliard, Director of the WalMart Foundation, and Raymond Garcia, from the Pearson Foundation spoke.

Nelly talked about her commitment to the Jumpstart program and her commitment to the literacy cause. At the press conference, Nelly talked about her daughter who will turn six in a few days, “…reading has been such a huge part of our lives. I read to her daily when she was a baby. We have a lot of books at home. And, I was shocked to hear that… in some households there might be as little as zero, one, two or three books in low income households all across America. I remember when I was a child my parents saving their hard-earned money and buying us the Childcraft Encyclopedias. They were our whole world and inspired a love of reading. I know that it’s so important to get that language in the children before they even get to kindergarten because then they have the familiarity there. And so, it’s really special to be here because I really love books.”

Nelly echoed the same thoughts in my one-on-one with her. As a mother of a young girl, she realizes that it’s key to set the groundwork for literacy early. Jumpstart’s Read for the Record campaign is a great way to get started and make sure that children start school with the basic skills they need to succeed. For Nelly, the appeal is it’s not intimidating to get started. Anyone can get a book and read to a child. What could be easier?

During the event, Nelly recorded a PSA to promote Jumpstart. However, best of all, a few lucky preschool kids got to enjoy Nelly reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar to them.

To take part in Look To The Stars’ special promotion to win a signed copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, click here

Win A Signed Copy of a Classic Children's Book

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:43:00 -0000

Written by Myrlia Purcell

Nelly Furtado is the latest celebrity to join the campaign to bring the joy of reading to children through Jumpstart’s Read for the Record campaign.

The singer will read this year’s book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar to preschoolers in NYC on September 14th. She is joining Lo Bosworth, Mary-Louise Parker and many other in supporting this initiative to help young readers.

Help break a record

Jumpstart is trying to beat last year’s record of nearly 700,000 people reading the same story to children all around the world on the same day. This year, their goal is to reach 1 million children, with people take a moment to giggle with a child over a fun book, and share the fun of reading together. To take part in this record-breaking event visit the Read for the Record website and sign up to read with the world on October 8th.

And, Look To The Stars is bringing you an exclusive opportunity to win a copy of this children’s classic, signed by author Eric Carle!

How to enter

Either: simply follow us on Twitter, and re-tweet our link to this story to your followers. (Don’t forget to include @looktothestars and leave the link intact so we can enter you in the draw!)

Or, if you are not on Twitter, but you have a blog: post a link to this story there, and email us to let us know at contests@looktothestars.org.

The winner will be chosen at random on September 18th.

About Jumpstart

Jumpstart helps children get on the path to success by pairing college students and volunteers with preschool children, and helping them gain a love of books from an early age. To find out how you can volunteer, or make a donation which will put a book in the hands of children in underserved communities, visit the Jumpstart website.

Mary-Louise Parker Joins Read for the Record

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:13:00 -0000

Written by Myrlia Purcell

Mary-Louise Parker is joining in for Jumpstart’s Read for the Record campaign.

Also pledged to take part is Lo Bosworth from MTV’s The Hills, who will be signing books at American Eagle Outfitters in Hollywood between 1-2 this afternoon, September 2nd.

Other celebrity readers expected at this year’s October 8th event include Laura Bush, Jesse McCartney and Greg Kinnear.

Both Bosworth and Parker have made PSA’s supporting the campaign encouraging people to sign up to pledge to read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to a child or children in their local communities.

This year’s official Campaign book is a limited edition of the classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle. The commemorative book includes a foreward with messages from Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira of NBC’s TODAY Show , Mary-Louise Parker and LL Cool J. The special limited edition can be purchased online at www.readfortherecord.org/books.

Read for the Record is a program designed to share the joy of reading with young people around the world, and it helps to put books in the hands of low-income children. To find out how you can pledge to read, visit ReadForTheRecord.org, or to take part in Lo’s “Very Virtual Book Drive”, click here.

Lo Bosworth Shares a Caterpillar

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:57:00 -0000

Written by Myrlia Purcell

The Hills, Lo Bosworth is joining this year’s Read for the Record© campaign, taking place October 8, 2009, and you can join her Very Virtual Book Drive.

Jumpstart’s Read for the Record was started in 2006 as an international campaign to bring preschool children together with valued grown-ups in their lives to read the same book, on the same day, in communities all over the world. Nearly 700,000 readers took part last year, sharing the magic of reading with children in classrooms, libraries and homes from Japan, Germany and Brazil to cities and rural communities across America.

Also taking part this year will be Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Mary-Louise Parker and Eric Carle on NBC’s TODAY show in Rockefeller Center.

Carle has signed a copy of his classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which will go to one lucky person who pledges to join the campaign.

To pledge, visit the Jumpstart website. Be sure to return to the website and submit your information after you read to help break the world record attempt!

For those who want to do more, there are plenty of other options, from taking part in a community event, to sponsoring a child, a class or even an entire school through book donations on your behalf to children in low-income communities.

To get involved, or for more information, visit ReadfortheRecord.org.

LTTS Exclusive: An Interview With The Hill's Lo Bosworth

Tue, 05 May 2009 15:30:00 -0000

Written by Brandy Reynolds

Lo Bosworth – star of the hit MTV television show The Hills – is a young female philanthropist who truly believes in education.

As a college graduate, she has made the decision to teach children what she’s learned by educating one child at a time as an advocate of Jumpstart. Jumpstart’s mission is to ensure that all children in America enter school prepared to succeed. Year-round, Jumpstart recruits and trains thousands of people to work one-to-one with children in low income communities, helping preschoolers develop the language, literacy and social skills they need to succeed in school and in life.

Look To The Stars recently got the chance to interview this young women about how she is making a difference.

Why do you support Jumpstart?

For me, education was always such an important part of my life. I believe we have to start educating children at the very beginning, with reading. It’s the literacy aspect of Jumpstart – combined with my love of learning – that made me want to team up with this organization in particular.

What improvements have you seen since you have been working with this organization?

I was at a event recently in Santa Monica shooting a PSA for JumpStart [with] ambassadors who went to Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA . This group of college students read to kids at St Josephs 2 or 3 times a week, and they tell me that there’s a significant amount of improvement. They take kids in pre-school who are at risk and read to them for hours every single week trying to prepare them for kindergarten so that they’re at the appropriate reading level.

For someone in our age group who doesn’t have a lot of time or money, what would you suggest they do to get started in giving back?

The first thing to do is… go to the website and educate yourself about the organization. October 8 is our Read for the Record day, and you can sign up to be a reader and give a hour or two of your time to help out. I think that’s a great way to participate.

Were you brought up to give back or was there a certain event in your life that made you want to give back?

For me, I have been able to live a privileged life and I am so fortunate in that aspect. I try to remember the things I’ve done to get to this place, and now that I’m here I have the time and energy to give back to people. I think that when you’re in a privileged position, the best thing you can do is help others around you. Once you’ve attained success, then you do have the time and money to help others.

Do you think that young women in Hollywood are doing a good job at publicizing issues that affect our world? Do you think they could do more to get their fans involved?

I think to a certain degree yes, they could do more, but at the same time people want to support causes that they really do care about. And I think when you support a charity that you care about, that’s when the most work gets done. A lot of people go to charities to get their photo taken on the red carpet, and that’s different from really giving your time and energy to a cause. So I’d like to see more people really being active: finding one organization that they’re really passionate about and giving their time and energy to that.

What would you like to see change about the world when it comes to charity work?

I feel like any charity work out there is amazing. I feel like more people out there need to be willing to turn off the TV and get out there and help. One thing that I’m really interested in is working with more charities that are focused on people in our country. A lot of people focus on people overseas and I feel like there’s so much we can do here at home and make a difference.

Will any of your upcoming work reflect the philanthropic work you’re doing?

My sister and I are writing a children’s book and we’re trying to get that published. When I started reading to children and started working with Jumpstart, it inspired me to write a book. That was a really interesting experience for me and I’m really hoping that I can get our book published.

Who do you look up to in the industry and why?

Kelly Ripa. I love her show and I watch it every morning. I think that she’s so inspirational: she’s a mom and she has a strong family. We love her for just being herself. She has a career that I aspire to have.

Look To The Stars would like to thank Lo Bosworth for taking the time to talk to us. More information about Jumpstart’s Read For The Record campaign can be found at the charity’s website. Celebrity readers expected at this year’s event on October 8 include Laura Bush, Mary-Louise Parker, Jesse McCartney, and Greg Kinnear.

Julianne Hough Issues $100,000 Challenge To Map Play Places

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Two-time “Dancing with the Stars” champion and Mercury Nashville recording artist Julianne Hough has partnered up with KaBOOM!, a national non-profit, to map and rate playspaces everywhere online. Once it has this comprehensive user-generated playground audit, KaBOOM! will know which areas of the country have a great place for kids to play every day and which areas fall short. Toward this end, Julianne will donate $1 to select charities every time someone uploads a new place to play (up to $100,000).

The challenge runs 100 days, from March 23 – June 30, or until Julianne gives away $100,000 to national non-profits that have teamed up with KaBOOM! for this project: YMCA of the USA, National Wildlife Federation, Shaping America’s Health, Jumpstart, America’s Promise Alliance and First Book.

To participate, users go online to the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder (kaboom.org/playspacefinder) pick a great charity to earn money for, then post a picture they took of a place to play, and rate it. Julianne will then give the non-profit they selected $1 each time they load a new playspace to the map. In addition to benefiting charity, every playspace loaded counts as an entry in a sweepstakes to meet Julianne or win autographed merchandise. By using online technology to activate and engage individuals, the 100,000 Playspaces in 100 Days Campaign will alert communities of the importance of play, and motivate individuals to start taking action.

“In the U.S. childhood obesity numbers have tripled since I was little. Statisics say that nearly a third of our nations kids are overweight or well on their way. I have joined with KaBOOM to try and make sure that kids have a place to play and run around every day,” said Julianne. When complete, the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder will serve as a national audit of playspaces, allowing communities to evaluate how many there are, their quality, and how accessible they are.

Growing up in Utah, Julianne had a very active childhood. She and her siblings were always outside playing together as well as dancing and singing. She wants to help other kids have some of the same opportunities as she did.

To do something about the situation, Julianne teamed up with KaBOOM! to help them complete an online map of playgrounds, the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder. “I want to help parents know where all the great places are to play in their neighborhood,” Julianne said. Once 100,000 new playspaces are entered onto the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder, KaBOOM! will have a national map full of places to play, parents can see where to take their kids, and KaBOOM! can spot areas that need attention.

The KaBOOM! Playspace Finder is a Google-based map that currently shows more than 16,000 user-generated entries with photos, amenities, and ratings of places kids play. The KaBOOM! Playspace Finder includes all different sorts of places to play: playgrounds, athletic fields, ice rinks, basketball courts, skateparks, and swimming pools, even nature trails and community gardens.

Since 1995, KaBOOM! has constructed almost 1,600 playgrounds, skateparks, sports fields and ice rinks across North America. KaBOOM! also created the KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play.

Look To The Stars News: Jumpstart

Jumpstart Sets New Charity Record For Reading

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Nelly Furtado Reads For The Record

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Win A Signed Copy of a Classic Children's Book

Help break a record

How to enter

About Jumpstart

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Mary-Louise Parker Joins Read for the Record

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Lo Bosworth Shares a Caterpillar

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LTTS Exclusive: An Interview With The Hill's Lo Bosworth

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Julianne Hough Issues $100,000 Challenge To Map Play Places

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