Deseret Media Companies' literacy program, chairwoman to be honored by educators

Deseret Media Companies' "Read Today" literacy program and its chairwoman, Nadine Wimmer, will be honored by the Utah State Board of Education on Friday for providing an incentive to help children improve their reading skills.

The program encourages students in kindergarten through sixth grade to commit to reading every day from June 15 through Aug. 28, logging their minutes daily on the project's website at www.readtoday.com.

The board lauded the program during its monthly "achievement spotlight" during a regularly scheduled meeting.

The program was announced in April, with organizers encouraging families to read together for at least 20 minutes a day. Tracking their progress online, participants are linked to their school on the website, which provides a running total of how many summer reading minutes the students are achieving.

The program "was initially started to help students keep their reading skills sharp over the school break, but it has been such a success that the program is going to expand beyond the summer months and into a year-round program," said the award citation.

Wimmer, a reporter and anchor with KSL-TV, has spearheaded the initiative, which includes a team of employees from KSL, the Deseret News, Deseret Book, Deseret Digital Media and Temple Square Hospitality. The summer reading program will culminate with a free book festival at the University of Utah on Saturday, Aug. 28 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The daylong event will feature special appearances by Fablehaven series author Brandon Mull; Obert Skye, author of "Leven Thumps"; LDS musician Paul Cardall; and a variety of other authors and performers. It will feature children's events, live music, cooking demonstrations, exhibitors, food, celebrity readings and author signings.

For more information online, visit www.KSL.com/BookFestival or www.ReadToday.com/BookFestival.

e-mail: carrie@desnews.com