DeLauro Honors “Rosa’s Readers” Participants
349 Students from 25 Schoolsacross the 3rd Congressional District Read At Least 20 Books Each
NEW HAVEN, CT –Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3)celebrated 349 first graders from 25 schools across Connecticut's ThirdDistrict today. DeLauro, and the students' parents, recognized theirachievements in participating in the "Rosa's Readers" program. Thisyear's participants read a total of 9,066 books.
"There is no more important responsibility than ensuring the nextgeneration of Americans has the tools and opportunities they need to realizetheir dreams. My hope is that all of ‘Rosa's Readers' will develop a lifelonglove of reading and learning that will help them succeed. I am proud torecognize all of our students today for their achievements, as well as theparents and teachers who supported them along the way."
The program, which was established in 2000 to encourage interestin reading outside of the classroom, challenges students to read 20 books.DeLauro presented each child with a "Certificate of Achievement" and acommemorative bookmark. Nearly every student participated in the bookmarkdesign contest, which was won by Kristin Ryan of AW Cox Elementary School inGuilford. Over 7,000 local students have participated in the program since itsinception. Stevie Varley of AW Cox Elementary School was presented the "BigReader" award for reading 104 books.