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2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704
TEL: (510) 981-7100, FAX: (510) 981-7199, TDD: (510) 981-6903
Office Hours: Mon-Fri 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Email: mayor@ci.berkeley.ca.us

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Project BUILD Kick-Off Event
at James Kenny Park
June 22, 2004

(Read the press release)

Berkeley United in Literacy Development (BUILD)

2004 Summer Reading Campaign

What is BUILD Summer Reading?

A partnership committed to ensuring that every student in Berkeley has ample opportunities to read, develop their literacy skills, and start school in the fall, ready to learn new things!

Research shows that students who DO NOT read or engage in enriching activities over the summer can lose up to 2.6 months of learning from the previous school year. That means that they start school already behind their peers.

That is not OK for Berkeley’s kids. We want every child to have an enriching summer full of recreation, arts and BOOKS!

Mayor Tom Bates and Clifford the Big Red Dog hand out books at the Project BUILD Kick-Off, June 22, 2004. Mayor's Office photo.

Who are the kids in BUILD Summer Reading?

560 Pre-Kindergarten through 8^th grade students primarily from South and West Berkeley, participating in the following summer programs:

Francis Albrier Recreation Center
James Kenny Recreation Center
The Young Adult Project
Centro Vida Preschool and Bahia School Age programs
Berkeley Youth Alternatives (BYA)
RISE – for eighth graders entering Berkeley High School

Mayor Tom Bates and partners in Project BUILD introduce the program to over 300 students in attendance during the kick-off event, June 22, 2004. Mayor's Office photo.

Who are the partners?

Mayor Tom Bates
Berkeley Alliance – John Martin
UC Berkeley Cal Corps Public Service Center – Megan Voorhees & Jose Ramirez
UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education – Dean David Pearson (not present)
Berkeley Public Library – Linda Perkins & Jackie Griffin
Berkeley Recreation Programs – Madalyn Law, Bertha Brown, Phil Harper-Cotton
BAHIA – Beatriz Leyva-Cutler & Marta Cuevas
RISE – Adriana Betti
Berkeley Youth Alternatives – Nikki Williams & Marva Lyons

Who made it possible?

UC Berkeley Cal Corps America Reads Tutors – 30 tutors, trained by BUSD literacy specialists – leveraging $55,000 in federal work study funding
SBC with it initial contribution of $10,000
Wells Fargo with its match of $10,000 ($6,000 summer reading & $4,000 other youth programs)
Scholastic Literacy Partners–making low cost books available

Mayor Tom Bates and Clifford the Big Red Dog hand out books at the Project BUILD Kick-Off, June 22, 2004. Mayor's Office photo.

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Mayor's Office
2180 Milvia Street
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 981-7100
Email: mayor@ci.berkeley.ca.us