WEST HARTFORD, CONN. (September 27, 2017) – If you like children, love reading, and want to make a difference in the lives of at-risk students, mark your calendar for Children's Reading Partners’ fall kickoff event, to be held Wednesday, November 1, 2017 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Mandell JCC, 335 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford. You’ll learn how you can have a positive impact on a child’s life in just 30 minutes a week, and guest speaker Jacquelyn Santiago of COMPASS Youth Collaborative will explain how children’s social and emotional well-being affects their ability to learn.

Children’s Reading Partners is a volunteer literacy program that serves at-risk public school students in Bloomfield, East Hartford, Hartford, Manchester, New Britain and West Hartford. Part of the Jewish Community Relations Council at the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, it welcomes volunteers of all faiths and serves students of all backgrounds. Since its founding in 1998, Children’s Reading Partners has served over 6,000 students with more than 95,000 reading sessions. It has also provided more than 6,600 new books to students and their classrooms.

Guest speaker Jacquelyn Santiago is the Chief Operating Officer of COMPASS Youth Collaborative, a nonprofit youth development organization serving the young people of Harford through innovative programs and community school partnerships. Ms. Santiago has deep and broad experience working with children and youth in the Hartford area. She was honored as one of Hartford Business Journal’s 40 Under Forty in 2015 and was named one of Greater Hartford’s 100 Women of Color for 2017. 

The kickoff event is free and open to the public; kindly RSVP by Wednesday, October 25 to Goldy Singh at gsingh@jewishhartford.org or 860.727.6130.

Major grant funding for Children’s Reading Partners is provided by the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford, SBM Charitable Foundation, the Stocker Foundation, Trifecta Environmental, the Jeffrey P. Ossen Family Foundation, the Kinder Morgan Foundation, People’s United Community Foundation, George A. & Grace L. Long Foundation at Bank of America, and the Samuel Roskin Trust at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.

To learn more about Children’s Reading Partners, visit www.jewishhartford.org/childrens-reading-partners, or contact Alana Butler, Director of Children’s Reading Partners, at READ@jewishhartford.org or 860.236.READ (7323).

Photo caption: Guest speaker Jacquelyn Santiago, Chief Operating Officer of COMPASS Youth Collaborative, will explain how children’s social and emotional well-being affects learning at Children’s Reading Partners’ fall 2017 kickoff event on November 1 at the Mandell JCC. Photo courtesy of COMPASS Youth Collaborative.