More than 2,000 students, families, and volunteers celebrated literacy during the St. Louis Public Schools Literacy for the Lou Sneaker Ball on June 1, 2024, at O’Fallon Park Recreation Center YMCA, 4343 W Florissant Ave.
“This event is the culmination of our reading incentive challenge and celebrated students who read 1,838 minutes,” according to SLPS Superintendent Keisha Scarlett.
The target number is not a coincidence. The St. Louis Public Schools District was founded in 1838.
When launched in February, Scarlett called Literacy for the Lou “an all hands-on-deck mobilization of our entire city.”
“We plan to get children reading, family and friends coaching, and the entire community asking the question: “What book are you reading right now?”
SLPS and partners continue to provide thousands of books and families at no charge, with a goal of establishing home libraries.
“If they have their own library at home with books they want to read, they will learn [to love it,]” Scarlett said.
The ball included face painting, haircuts, and a DJ in celebration of student reading achievement and the effort to raise literacy rates throughout the region.
“In the citywide plan for education, [literacy] was one of the areas where families really shared about how they really wanted their children reading at high levels, and this has also been a district goal for a long time,” Scarlett said.
Coaching is also available to families on how to teach through the ‘science of reading’ and help young readers learn and improve.
