Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high…
Here’s a celebrity Kickstarter campaign that most of us can get behind. Levar Burton, host of the beloved childrens’ program Reading Rainbow, has launched a campaign to extend the show beyond its 23-year run. Specifically, his new program will offer an unlimited library of interactive books and video field trips to children all over the world, for free.
Burton says he got the idea after launching a Reading Rainbow tablet app in 2012, which was highly successful, but wasn’t available to every child:
First, not all families have access to tablets. Our goal is to cultivate a love of reading in all children, not just those that have tablets. To reach kids everywhere, we need to be everywhere: we need to be on the web.
Second, a resounding number of teachers have told me that they want Reading Rainbow in their classrooms, where they know it can make a difference. We will provide it, along with the tools that teachers need, including teacher guides, leveling, and dashboards. And in disadvantaged classrooms, we’ll provide it for free.
The recently launched Kickstarter page features a series of handy statistics on child literacy and outlines the plan to make Reading Rainbow available on the web, build a specialized classroom version of the series, and deliver it for free to schools in need.
At the time of this writing, the team is just a few thousand dollars shy of their $1 million goal. But of course, every bit counts, especially for an initiative of this size.
Find the campaign pitch below and to donate, click the widget below or visit the website HERE.
