On April 9, City of Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton, Florida Senator Tony Hill, Jean Ribault High School Principal Royce Turner and many others kicked off the 2009 Jax Reads Campaign at Jean Ribault High School.
Jax Reads is a program designed for everyone in the community to read the same book at the same time, and participate in discussions with family, friends and neighbors. The program is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of “The Big Read” initiative.
The Jacksonville Public Library (JPL) is one of Ribault High School’s educational partners. In addition to assisting with various events and initiatives throughout the year, JPL donated more than 1,100 copies of the book, The Call of the Wild, for students to read and join in the 2009 reading campaign. The Call of the Wild, written by Jack London, explores the lives and experiences of animals so that humans may understand that all creatures experience both victory and defeat.
Students enjoyed listening to excerpts of the book from guest speakers including Betsy Lovett, Chair of the JPL Foundation, Jacksonville City Councilman and Ribault alumnus Dr. Johnny Gaffney, and many others including Carolyn Williams, JPL’s Deputy Director and CBS Action News-47 anchor, Dawn Lopez.
Dawn Lopez, like many of the speakers, congratulated the school on its recent FCAT success and explained the importance of reading to the students. She gave a brief testimony on how her five-year-old son is able to travel to places like Africa for a safari through his reading. “Reading takes you to places you never believed you’d travel to,” said Lopez.
During the celebration, students with winning raffle tickets were awarded prizes, including gift cards, gift certificates to Ashanti Hair Boutique, MP3 players and iPod Nanos & Shuffles. “The Call of the Wild” essay contest was also unveiled during the program. All Ribault students are eligible to participate. Winners will receive a laptop computer and will be announced at the Jax Reads Celebration on Wednesday May 6, 2009 at 6:30 pm, at the JPL Main Branch Downtown.
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