By Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry E. Abramson
September 13, 2004

You get some gifts as a child that you don't fully appreciate till adulthood.

When I was growing up, I could always count on my parents saying "yes" to buying me the latest Hardy Boys adventure or Chip Hilton sports book, even if they were skeptical about other treats. My Dad would cheerfully hand over The Courier-Journal so I could check high'school game reports. LIFE and Look magazines piled up on our kitchen table. My mother always had novels to read from the library.

So I grew up to become a reader. And my wife Madeline and I read to our son Sidney from the time he was born. Though he's 12 now, I still remember lines from toddler classics like "Goodnight Moon."

The fact that you're reading this piece means you have strong reading skills, too — thanks to parents, teachers and others who shaped your early life.

So as the school year begins, I challenge you to share that childhood gift: Let's make a personal commitment to help raise education in this community to a new level — as parents, as volunteers, as employers.

Never has it been more important.

Why? Education and economic opportunities are linked, whether you are an individual looking for a rewarding job or a community that aims to stay healthy and vibrant in times when the best-paying work relies increasingly on brainpower. We need a well-educated workforce if we are going to encourage local companies to grow and attract outside employers to move here. Despite some improvements over the past 10 years, our region lags behind many competitor cities in educational attainment — especially when you look at college degrees and higher.

Our future depends on initiatives like Every 1 Reads and campaigns to encourage all our residents to "Go Higher" up the educational ladder.

The Every 1 Reads initiative — led by the Jefferson County Public Schools, in partnership with Greater Louisville Inc., city government and numerous community organizations — needs 10,000 adult volunteers as it focuses on its ambitious goal: to make sure every Jefferson County public school student reads at grade level — or better — in four years. That means lifting up about 18,000 students who now lag in reading skills — so that they are likelier to graduate from high school, to continue their educations and to enter adulthood with the skills they need to get good jobs and build successful lives.

Being a good reader is not a luxury in the 21st century. It is a necessary life skill: It means more than being able to enjoy the latest Winston Churchill biography or Sue Grafton mystery novel. It means being able to understand the lease for a house, the terms for a credit card, instructions for using Drano

It means being able to navigate a web site, prepare for a job-promotion exam, help your child with math or social studies homework.

If each of us makes a commitment to do just a little more — to get involved in raising the bar when it comes to education — think about the impact multiplied across our community.

How can we make a difference? Here are some ways I've learned as a parent and working with city departments and agencies.

If you are a parent of a very young child:

• Get a library card and use it. New mothers are encouraged to sing and talk to the youngest infants — and to show them books with pictures.
• Try to carve out 10 quiet minutes to look at a book with your child every day.

If you don't like to read, tell a story.

• Hold your child in your lap while you read, whether you are skimming the sports section or reading a magazine: Don't underestimate the power of being a good example.

If you are the parent of a school-age child:

• Visit your youngster's school as often as you can. Join the PTA and get involved.
• Ask "What was your favorite class today?" or "Tell me about your day." Thirty years of research shows that students achieve more when parents pay attention.
• Don't let school attendance slide: Study after study shows it's crucial to school success.
• Have dinner together as often as possible. That connection links with school achievement.
• Limit TV time. The less TV children watch, the better students and readers they tend to be.
• Keep reading to your child. From street signs to recipes to ads for movies, look for ways to link words to everyday life.

As a volunteer...

• Make time to join the Every 1 Reads team. Set aside 1 hour a week to read with a student in a school.
• At least 2,500 mentors are needed for Louisville middle and high school students. Studies show at-risk kids benefit from all connections with caring adults.
• Donate to book drives like the Success'By-6 book "harvest" that collects books for young children.

At your job... ask whether your workplace is education-friendly:

• Can parents can get time off to attend teacher conferences? Will flexible schedules let them visit school a few times a year?
• Some local employers have "adopted" schools to help out with Every 1 Reads, sending teams of workers once a week. Could your workplace get behind this educational initiative?
• When it comes to employees, does your workplace encourage education? Does it offer tuition assistance to workers who want to continue in school? Flexible schedules? A career ladder?

I can tell you that we are having more conversations at my workplace about these issues.

We're working on programs that aim to support Every 1 Reads, including a new Louisville Free Public Library initiative called Reading Power that will take books to disadvantaged preschoolers, their parents and teachers.

We'll be back this fall at Western Middle School, where more than 30 city employees have been helping out for several years, tutoring and assisting teachers.

And We're discussing how to make it possible for city workers to serve as Every 1 Reads volunteers and mentors for high school students.

As I see it, this gift of time is an investment we can't afford not to make.

It's a gift to the children we touch ... and a legacy for the future of our hometown.

To find more out about Every 1 Reads go to www.every1reads.org.

(reprinted from The Louisville Courier-Journal)