In 2014, GrowSmart began to celebrate NEA’s (National Education Association) ‘Read Across America Day’ with early childhood programs. Read Across America Day is a day to celebrate and foster a love of reading for children. GrowSmart celebrates every March, as a way to kick-off National Reading Month. In that first year, 34 sites were visited by 136 guest reader volunteers and every participating classroom received a copy of a free book. Now, every child in a participating center receives their own book! As the years have passed, we have strategically grown the event to incorporate more early childhood programs. This event is held on the first Friday in March and visits private childcare centers, Head Start, Virginia Beach City Public Schools' pre-k classrooms, Parks & Recreation early childhood programs, Seatack Elementary School's Kindergarten, Virginia Beach Public Library’s Early Literacy Outreach sites, and more.

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

• The city of Virginia Beach is a proud supporter of this event, with volunteers coming from across departments, to include: City Council, Police Department, Fire Department, Parks & Recreation, Health Department, Aquarium & History Museums, Economic Development, and many more!
  
• Since 2014, over 40,000 Virginia Beach children have been impacted and over 1200 community volunteers!
• Special thanks to our generous sponsors Anthem Healthkeeper's Plus, Square One, and the Virginia Beach GrowSmart Foundation, a 501(c)(3). Their support provides books for each child to take home

Virginia Beach READS will continue this event for the City of Virginia Beach for years to come! This event is a piece in our local Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. For more information, contact GrowSmart at 757-385-0144 or vbgrowsmart@vbgov.com .