NAESP Partners With United Way for New Club Connect Initiative

New Orleans, February 4, 2015 - NAESP announced a new partnership with United Way and Scholastic aimed at improving third graders’ reading experience. Bill O’Dowd, creator of Club Connect and a board member of the Worldwide Leadership Council of United Way, said that at lower-income levels there is only one age-appropriate book at home for every 300 children, and that third graders who do not read at grade level are four times more likely to drop out of high school.

"Club Connect was designed to give these kids a chance," O'Dowd said.

A company can “adopt” a school for a $10,000 donation to build a "Reading Oasis" filled with Scholastic books, furniture, and each student receives a subscription to the Club Connect website, featuring games, books, videos and other creative literacy activities developed by NAESP. 

NAESP pairs Club Connect with NAESP State Affiliates and members to identify elementary schools which could potentially be a good fit for the program. 

The launch event was held at Chalmette Elementary School in New Orleans, and attended by O’Dowd, Brian Gallagher, President and CEO of United Way Worldwide, and Ernie Mannino, Deputy Executive Director & CEO, NAESP Foundation.

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Businesses that are interested in helping can log onto www.unitedwaysela.org for more information on how to help.