Read-A-Thon looks for event volunteers

Read-A-Thon looks for event volunteers

On Wednesday, May 18, 400 school buses of third- through sixth-graders will descend on Rice Stadium for The Houston Area Urban League Read-A-Thon, and event organizers are seeking volunteers to help out.

Rice is a co-sponsor of the Read-A-Thon, which promotes the Houston Area Urban League’s “Read and Rise” early literacy program. The event is designed to kick off the Urban League’s national literacy campaign.

The Read-A-Thon will attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Records for the number of people reading aloud from the same text at the same time — a record previously set by the Northwest Indiana Urban League in Gary, Ind. That event drew 7,000 children; the Houston Area Urban League is planning for 30,000 children.

Obviously, such a large number of children will require extensive supervision. The Houston Independent School District, another co-sponsor, will arrange for one chaperone for every 10 of its students. Additional support and assistance will be needed. The Houston Area Urban League and Rice University event organizers are requesting campus volunteers to provide on-site assistance.

Buses will begin arriving at the stadium at 8:30 a.m. Entertainment provided principally by local youth performing artists, area high school bands, mascots and players from Houston’s professional sports teams will take place until 10 a.m., when the program officially begins. Following a number of presentations, Rice President David Leebron and his wife, Y. Ping Sun, will lead the students in the reading.

Volunteers are needed before the event to place reading material on stadium seats, serve as escorts from buses to the seating area prior to the event and during the event as ushers.

All volunteers must attend a brief orientation, which will be held in Rice Stadium the week of the event. The deadline to volunteer is May 11.

To volunteer, contact Sharon Bush, educational outreach administrator in the Office of the Associate Provost, 713-348-4351 or <bush@rice.edu>.