This event went better than I imagined. The Page Coach showed up early and everything was ready to go when my group of high school wrestlers showed up to help with the event. … Here is the most important part of the day: Unless you were there to see it, you will never be able to understand the looks in the eyes of the kids, the smiles, and true differences that were made to these kids. Many of them had NEVER received a brand new book and for many… this will be their first book in the home.—Jody Davis, Teacher and Coach, Shadow Hills High School, Indio, California
The Page Coach was made possible by the Crystal Vision Award from Employees Community Fund of Boeing Arizona
Because every young imagination holds untold new frontiers.
Travel back for a moment to childhood and the unprecedented thrill of discovery, back when every experience blazed a trail to the unknown and every dream began and ended with, �What if?�
But let�s not stop there, at the prologue of epic adventure. Turn the page and journey farther, deeper into the wild�to the shine of a mountaintop overlooking a magical kingdom. To wizards and dragons and fantastical things that suddenly seemed far less impossible. Venture past the ogres and bandits, through the plains of your personal Neverland, and keep riding straight into the future.
Revisit your first encounter with spaceships and rogues, imperial villains and those alien species not so unlike ourselves. Recall the wonder you felt amid inter-galactic battles and the promise of what might one day be found beyond the glow of that most distant star. And perhaps most importantly, remember the fascination that each sparked inside you, and the ambitions they left behind.
Today, many of our youngest and brightest minds are denied this crucial foundation, along with the hope for a better world�if not yet this one�often found within the pages of a favorite book. Whether lost in the shuffle of a hectic daily grind or the result of inaccessibility to reading material within impoverished communities, this failure to fuel the imagination can lead to detrimental consequences throughout a child�s academic career and beyond.
Kids Need to Read has long been devoted to bettering lives by instilling a lifelong love of reading, planting the seeds of potential and watching them blossom beyond anything previously imaginable. In some ways, our role has been a passive one, providing books, programs and enthusiastic support to those who seek it. Well now we get to blaze some trails of our own, and we could not be more excited about it!
Introducing The Page Coach, a truly innovative mobile outreach program that allows KNTR unprecedented interaction within the community. By getting out of the office and hitting the streets, our staff and volunteers can deliver the benefits of reading straight to the children who need it most. With a strong focus on serving the disadvantaged within our local community, each stop along The Page Coach�s route forges uniquely personal bonds between KNTR personnel and the young minds that will help shape tomorrow. Through this ever-evolving mobile experience, the program helps to foster a sense of belonging and acceptance for many who lack either in their lives, welcoming every child into a culture of reading and all the advantages it brings.
Unlike existing mobile lending libraries, The Page Coach carries on KNTR�s tradition of providing substantial book donations, both to libraries and to individual children in the hopes of expanding their own personal libraries. But that�s only the beginning. Designed to engage unlike anything of its kind, the Coach brings an entire interactive experience to anywhere its wheels stop turning. From read-alongs and literary handouts to appearances by children�s authors and special guests, every place visited means the launch of an immersive reading adventure for all the kids involved.
We know that friendships are formed and horizons broadened wherever books are involved. By taking the message directly to the children in a fun and captivating atmosphere, The Page Coach can demonstrate more powerfully than ever the true magic of reading. Now we can deliver the spark straight to pioneering imaginations. The wheels are already in motion. Together we will explore countless new frontiers, and rekindle the wonder of �what if?�