CREATE-A-BOOK BALTIMORE

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

CONTACT:

Lynn Pinder - 443.257.6752

Beautiful and Smart: A Campaign to Promote Literacy in Barber Shops and Beauty Salons

BALTIMORE - Did you know that September is National Literacy Month? Did you know…

• Children’s performance in reading, mathematics and general knowledge increases with the level of their mothers’ education. Kindergartners whose mothers have more education are more likely to score in the highest quartile in reading, mathematics and general knowledge than all other children. Source: West, J., Denton, K., & Germino-Hausken, E. (2000). America’s kindergartners (NCES 2000-070). U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

• At the beginning of kindergarten, children from a “literacy-rich” home environment (i.e. those who are read to, sung to, and told stories to more frequently and those who have more children’s books, records/audiotapes/CDs in the home) demonstrated higher reading knowledge and skills than other children. This relationship existed whether their families’ income was above or below the federal poverty threshold. Source: Denton, K., West, J., & Walston, J. (2003). Reading—Young children’s achievement and classroom experiences (NCES 2003-070). U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

Create-A-Book Baltimore believes everyone has a role in promoting children’s literacy. Averaging more than $26 million dollars a year in U.S. revenues, barber shops and beauty salons are vibrant community marketplaces where adults gather to share their ideas, express their opinions, and spend their money. “What better place to promote literacy and catch the attention of parents - children’s first teachers – than a barber shop and/or beauty salon where they and their children frequent?” asked Create-A-Book Baltimore owner, Lynn Pinder.

Cecelia “CeCe” Nickols, a cosmetologist for The Hair Cuttery at the Baltimore Rotunda and a Literacy Promoter for the Beautiful and Smart campaign explained, “If you catch children’s attention while they are young, then you may steer them in the right direction and help them become more interested in reading.”

Create-A-Book Baltimore launched the Beautiful and Smart campaign in September 2008 in honor of National Literacy Month. From September through December of each calendar year the focus of the Beautiful and Smart campaign will be on Children’s Literacy. From January through June, the focus will be on Adult Literacy. From July through August, the focus will be on Adolescent Literacy. For more information and/or details on how to become a Literacy Promoter and/or Sales Representative, call 443-257-6752.

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