Summer reading celebration in Dayton

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - Some Dayton students now have the opportunity to keep their reading skills up through the summer.

Pre-kindergarten through third grade students at the Westwood PreK-8 School attended a reading celebration Tuesday.

Each student can take home 10 books to read over the summer out of the 11,000 books donated.

The books were donated through the Raise a Reader campaign, which collects books for children who don't have access during the summer,  to keep their reading skills sharp over the long break.

The reading celebration was initially just for Westwood, but because of the surplus of books donated, three more schools can give children the opportunity for some summer reading.   Those students are from Louise Troy and World of Wonder schools.

Dayton Public Schools say about a third of the community's students can read proficiently by the end of third grade.  Research shows that the problem gets worse over the summer.

This summer "learning loss" can cause a disadvantaged child to be three grade equivalents behind their fellow, higher income classmates by the end of fifth grade.

The Raise a Reader campaign was helped by community partners including Dayton Metro Library, Dayton Public Schools, City of Dayton, Project Read, Think TV, United Way Learn to Earn, Omega Baptist Church and Ready, Set, Soar.