, Houston Area Urban League John Robinson, Director of Education
Reading is Fundamental
The most thrilling moment in the life of a child occurs when he or she discovers reading. Not only are they suddenly privy to a brave new world of fact, fiction and fantasy, with the proper resources they can embark on a path of unlimited learning. John Robinson, of the Houston Area Urban League, works to prove that point every day and at every opportunity he gets. The former athletic coach recently donated 1,000 books on behalf of the Houston Area Urban League and Scholastica to rolling out’s Seeding Minds literacy program. Robinson says the objective is to encourage families to build libraries at home for all of the younger members in their households.
“Through our partnership with Scholastic and as part of the Reading and Rise Family Circle Program we actually go in and help parents understand how to build college bound capacity in their children. [We assist] with building routines and techniques to offset what’s going on in the streets and maybe not happening at the schools,” he says.
Robinson travels the country meeting with parents to provide educational resources and partner with local organizations to develop holistic approaches to developing learning regimens in the family setting.
“So that’s why we’re here we’re doing this today in conjunction with rolling out and its partners. We have to get the message out is that reading is key to all academic areas,” he says.
Robinson warns that in the 21st century, kids will miss getting their piece of the pie if they don’t establish sound reading habits now.
“For the next 100 years digital technology will drive the country. That means our children will need to know how to read to develop other math and computer skills. But it has to start at home with the parents,” he says. –roz edward
