Morris Street School Students Challenged to Read

Wilma Holmes Tootle, the national chairman for Links to Success, told about 40 three- to five-year-olds Thursday they're on a mission between now and April.

"What you have to do in the challenge is read 10 books," said Tootle, after herself having read "The Flea's Sneeze," to the children a few seconds earlier. "The three people who read the most books will win a prize."

"Do you know Toys R Us," Tootle asked the children, and she got a resounding "Yes," from the children. The three top prizes come from Toys R Us.

"In April I'm coming back to see how many books you've read. Everyone's going to get something in April. If you can read more than 10 books by April, go for it," Tootle said. For many of these youngsters, their parents will read the books to them, and that's another part of the goal, parents being involved in reading.

Danbury's Morris Street School's pre-school program, part of the school readiness program, won a grant from Learning Through Art, a Cincinnati-based non-profit corporation that is supporting early-childhood reading in urban and rural areas. The money for this grant comes from Pitney Bowes Foundation, and it is worth $24,950 for a total of 20 classrooms in Danbury, Bridgeport and Stamford.

Shuana Tucker-Sims, Ph.D., is the director of adult and continuing education in Danbury, as well as the president of Fairfield County Links, which is providing the program Books Alive! For Kids, a national literacy partner of Links to Success: Children Achieving Excellence.

Tucker-Sims said the classrooms were chosen at Morris Street School, and an important part of this program is asking parents to read to their children and become home advocates for reading. Parents will have access to two websites that will help them in this effort.