Read Ahead, New York, NY Videos

Read Ahead: Behind-the-Scenes
Get a behind the scenes look at what we’ve been up to the past few weeks 👀 Transcription: Hi! My name is Shay Li, and I'm the Senior Manager, Program and Impact, at Read Ahead. Our 2022-23 program ended at the end of May, and we're already in full swing, preparing for the upcoming year. Although our program takes place during the school year, summer is still a very busy time for our Program team, working on a variety things such as: building out our literacy resources, laying out the foundation for mentor recruitment, meeting with school stakeholders to plan for the upcoming year, and other such projects. Thank you so much to all of our mentors, families, and school partners! We're looking forward to kicking off the fall.

For young children, fostering a relationship between the book and the reader is key! One of our Program Coordinators, Rui Jia Zheng, has some great insight on how to make that connection so that children become more invested in what they’re reading. #JoyfulReaders #ReadAheadNY

We all have memories of reading growing up and Read Ahead’s program team works hard to build a positive association with reading for kids in our program. We asked one of our Program Coordinators, Cecile Johnson, what she loved about reading as a kid. 📖 💛 #JoyfulReaders #ReadAheadNY

Read Ahead mentees love to read about all kinds of topics! 🎨 🔭 🌎️ Estefany, a 5th grade student, shares that her favorite book is about Leonardo Da Vinci and she thinks reading is fun because “I can read about people, and the past, and how they changed the world.” #JoyfulReaders #ReadAheadNY

At Read Ahead, we always strive to make reading a shared and engaging experience between mentor and mentee. Our Program Coordinator, Jamilla Simon, has some great tips on how to facilitate that: Find what your student is interested in! It could be sports, superheroes, or animals, whichever one it is, choosing books that align with their interests makes all the difference. Read together by alternating who reads each page and fostering a sense of togetherness while reading. #JoyfulReaders #ReadAheadNY

Reading is an opportunity to bring the experience of characters alive! One of our Program Coordinators, Britt Applewhite, shares that reading in silly voices is a sure way to bring the page to life. #JoyfulReaders #ReadAheadNY

Reading can give kids access to a wealth of knowledge! 🧠 😄 Hear one of our Read Ahead mentees, 5th grader Erisenia, talk about how reading is joyful for her because she gets to read informational books and learn new things. She especially loves reading about dolphins! 🐬 #JoyfulReaders #ReadAheadNY #WeLoveReadingAboutDolphinsToo

The best way to inspire kids to read is to make it joyful and fun! Here are some great tips from our Senior Program Coordinator, Eva David, on how to do just that. Eva recommends: 🪞 Letting kids pick books where they seem themselves represented 🎭 Using funny voices and acting things out 🎨 Drawing a picture of your favorite part after you’re done #JoyfulReaders #ReadAheadNY

We’re just over halfway through #GivingTuesday and the Read Ahead Junior Board has helped us raise over $70,000 to support reading-based mentoring for NYC students. Thank you to all who have donated so far. Together we can make a difference! https://donate.readahead.org/campaign/givingtuesday-2022/c442478

Only one week to go until Read Ahead's Books & Beyond Virtual Gala! 🎉✨🎉 We're so excited to raise a glass and hope to see our entire Read Ahead community for this fun and inspiring evening on Wednesday, June 9th. 🥂 To learn more and register, visit https://readahead.org/books-and-beyond-2021/. Registration is free, but required. #booksandbeyond21

Congratulations to the Read Ahead Junior Board, who raised a record $131K - and counting! - at their very first ever virtual trivia tournament. 🎉❓🎉 Thank you to everyone who contributed and participated. Your generosity helps underwrite the curriculum, technology, and resources needed for 131 NYC public school students in Read Ahead’s new virtual program. 📚✏️🏫 Special thanks to our premier event partner, Penguin Random House (@penguinrandomhouse), and to Houlihan Lokey, Macquarie (@macquariegroup), Pioneer Financial, and Catbird (@catbirdnyc) for their support of this event.

This Thursday, an epic trivia battle hosted by the Read Ahead Junior Board will commence! 🎉🎉🎉 Our 40 teams of trivia experts are gearing up to take on Read Ahead’s first ever virtual trivia tournament, all while raising funds for Read Ahead’s new virtual program. We’re so excited to cheer them on! Special thanks to our premier event partner, Penguin Random House (@penguinrandomhouse), and to Houlihan Lokey, Macquarie (@macquariegroup), Pioneer Financial, and Catbird (@catbirdnyc) for their support of this event. To show your support for Read Ahead and help our teams meet their goal to raise $75,000, visit https://secure.qgiv.com/event/rajbtrivia/