United Way Turks & Caicos to host Reading Relay to Promote Literacy

#Providenciales, April 17, 2019 – Turks and Caicos – United Way TCI will host its 1st  annual Reading Relay on Monday, April 22^nd at the TCI National Stadium to culminate the organization’s 5 weeks long national read-a-thon under the theme Reading Superheroes.

Officially launched in March, the national literacy campaign is part of United Way TCI’s mandate to improve literacy throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands by encouraging children to read.

The Reading Relay will take place at the TCI National Stadium on Monday April 22^nd with over 300 students from 11 participating schools registered to be a part of the relay.

Claudine Ewing, Executive Director of United Way TCI commented on the reason behind this latest campaign by saying; “Our aim this year is to focus on education and that is why we are tackling literacy and reading in our primary schools. We know that many of our students are not reading at grade level. We are using this initiative to make reading fun and make them better readers. Our aim is that no child is left behind when we have the opportunity to assist.”

She further noted; “The reading relay will be a great way for students to showcase their reading skills and improvement.”

The Reading Relay is the final event of a national read-a-thon which encouraged students to read to friends and family for a sponsored fee. The top two students with the most reading hours were chosen as readers of the week by their school and named reading superheroes by United Way TCI.

United Way TCI has pledged to donate 25% of the proceeds raised by each school to their PTA and 75% of proceeds will go to fund the Reading Intervention Program- “Yes I Can Read”, which is an after school tutoring program helping children become better readers. The winning school will receive an updated library and the student that raised the most money will receive a vacation for a family of 4.

The Reading Intervention Program has already been launched as a pilot program at the Enid Capron Primary School and the contribution of more funds will help to expand the program to more children in need.

 “Based on the government’s statistics we have over 1,700 students in the government primary school system with a great number of them not reading at grade level. There are many contributors to this, such as learning disability, language barriers, etc.” Ewing stated.

The Reading Relay will begin at 8am on Monday, April 22nd at the Turks and Caicos National Stadium.  We appreciate the contribution of our many sponsors, volunteers and The Government Of The Turks & Caicos Islands.

About United Way

United Way Turks & Caicos was born in 2018 from the desire and generosity of a single donor that believed in United Way World wide’s mission and values and wanted to replicate the success of the United Way business model in the Turks & Caicos Islands. United Way Turks & Caicos Island envisions a community where all individuals and families achieve their human potential through Education. Our Mission is to improve lives by cultivating and inspiring the caring power of the community to advance the common good of all.

For more information on United Way TCI, please contact Claudine Ewing at 343-3000 or info@unitedwaytci.org.