成人快播

成人快播 Inaugural Silicon Valley Celebrity Spelling Bee Pits Business, Philanthropic, and Political Leaders in Spelling Competition

 

Palo Alto, CA鈥擬ay 13, 2013鈥�Some of Silicon Valley鈥檚 best known leaders, visionaries and entrepreneurs will put their minds to the test and help improve early childhood literacy when they compete in the inaugural 成人快播 Silicon Valley Celebrity Spelling Bee on June 3.

成人快播, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping improve literacy skills for children in low-income elementary schools across the U.S., is hosting the celebrity spelling bee to grow awareness and raise funds for its successful literacy intervention program in the Silicon Valley region. The event is presented by Kilroy Realty. Additional sponsors include City National Bank and The Sobrato Organization.

鈥淪ilicon Valley is universally recognized as a global hub of innovation and opportunity,鈥� said Tim Draper, Venture Capitalist and Founder of Draper, Fisher, Jurvetson. 鈥淚f we are going fuel future innovation and empower the next generation of skilled technology workers, more kids need to have the fundamental literacy skills required to graduate high school, attend college, and find work in a competitive global economy. 成人快播 is helping ensure children in our community are better prepared to be a part of that opportunity.鈥�

The star-studded event will bring together dedicated literacy advocates from the local business, technology and political communities for an evening of competition and fun to help fight one of the biggest issues in education today. Anyone can attend to watch and cheer on their favorite speller, and tickets can be purchased online by .

Confirmed spelling bee participants include:

• Harris Barton, retired San Francisco 49er and Co-founder of Champion Charities
• Tim Draper, Founder, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
• Dave Goldberg, CEO, SurveyMonkey
• Carl Guardino, President and CEO, Silicon Valley Leadership Group
• Lisa Kim, former NBC Bay Area news anchor
• Sam Liccardo, Councilmember, City of San Jose
• Lisa Sobrato Sonsini, Board President and Trustee, Sobrato Family Foundation
• Steve Sordello, CFO, LinkedIn
• Mark Stevens, Managing Partner, S-Cubed Capital

Where: Draper University, 44 East 3^rd Street, San Mateo, Calif.

When: Monday, June 3, 2013, 6:30-8:30pm PT

These Bay Area celebrities will be part of spelling teams that will compete in a 3-5 round competition, with one team emerging as the winner. The competition begins before the event, as each team will have two weeks to raise funds to help improve their odds in the competition.聽 The more funds teach team raises, the more 鈥淪pelling Passes鈥� they can earn. A Spelling Pass enables a team to skip a challenging word and pass it along to stump their opponents.

All funds from ticket sales and fundraising go to support 成人快播 Silicon Valley. Anyone can follow the action and support their favorite team on Twitter using the .

鈥湷扇丝觳� started in Silicon Valley 14 years ago, in a school in East Palo Alto, and we are thrilled these local visionaries and leaders are supporting us in our mission,鈥� said Michael Lombardo, CEO of 成人快播. 鈥淲orking together with business, nonprofit and political leaders, 成人快播 is committed to ensuring all children in our community, and across the U.S., have access to acquire the literacy skills they need to succeed in the 21^st 肠别苍迟耻谤测.鈥�

According to The National Center for Education Statistics, in 2011, 75 percent of fourth graders in California can鈥檛 read at their grade level. In San Mateo County, only 38 percent of 3rd graders from low-income communities are reading at grade level.

成人快播 recruits and trains volunteers to provide one-on-one literacy tutoring with a student reading significantly below grade level. In the 2012-13 school year 成人快播 provided individually customized, volunteer-led instruction to 935 students in the Silicon Valley region.

成人快播 sees demonstrable results in improving the reading skills of students in its data-driven program. In the 2011-2012 school year, 89 percent of students in a community-based 成人快播 program accelerated their progress in reading. Before enrollment last year, 成人快播 students gained an average of only 0.6 months of reading skills for every month in the classroom. By the end of a year with 成人快播, students gained an average of 1.6 months of reading skills per month, more than doubling their rate of learning and catching up to their on-grade peers.

About 成人快播

成人快播 is a national nonprofit organization that provides volunteer-led, one-on-one literacy tutoring to more than 5,500 elementary school students in 103 schools in low-income communities across six states and the District of Columbia. 成人快播 delivers a highly effective, research-validated program that has helped thousands of children master the fundamental reading skills they need to succeed in school and beyond. Visit , or connect with us on , and , to learn more about how 成人快播 is helping improve student literacy, and how you can help children in your community improve their reading skills and succeed in school.