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Every Child a Reader campaign kicks off
By: Carmen Paige
Pensacola News Journal, June 4, 2008

With a 25 percent illiteracy rate, advocates for literacy are working to make Every Child a Reader in Escambia County.

The kickoff for ECARE and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library was Tuesday.

“To create a more literate Escambia County, community leaders, businesses and citizens have created ECARE,” said Clairen Reese, executive director.  “The goal is to educate citizens about the importance of early literacy and provide tools, partners and resources for its success.”

The community’s future is tied to what happens to a child from birth to age five,” said Diane Hutcherson, Early Learning Coalition of Escambia County executive director.

“Eighty percent of who you are is established by the time you are five,” she said.

Parents registered their children for the library which gives one free hardback book monthly for any Escambia child up to age five.

Candace Pryor signed up her son, Nicholas Pryor, 3. “I read to him every night,” she said. “It’s our bonding time.”

Hosman said they have a daunting task to make sure every eligible child by 2011 is ready to enter kindergarten and all third-graders are proficient in 2014 in reading on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

“If parents become active in their child’s life, it will make a difference,” said John Hosman, ECARE chairman. “If parents are not going to, we as a community need to stand up and be active for them.”