Washington, D.C. (April 29, 2009) - D.C. United and its charitable arm, United for D.C., announced today the schedule for United Reads during spring 2009. United Reads is a signature program created to encourage elementary school students in the greater Washington D.C. area to fall in love with reading. In its seventh year, United Reads will continue to partner with the Heart of America Foundation to provide new books to each student during D.C. United player visits to each school.
The spring season is highlighted by a host of player appearances at participating schools. United Reads will be at seven different elementary schools in Washington D.C. and Prince Georges County between May 1st and June 5th. The spring session will include two visits to each school. During the first visit, United employees and volunteers will actively engage students in each classroom, distributing books, conducting reading activities and launching a Reading Challenge which encourages the children to read every day for three weeks.
At the second visit, D.C. United players will share their own experiences with the children, highlighting the importance of reading in their lives, as well as recognizing those students and classes that excelled at the Reading Challenge. During both visits, each student will receive two new age-appropriate books to add to their at-home libraries.
For more information about United Reads or any of United for D.C.’s programs, please visit www.unitedfordc.org
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The following is the United Reads spring school schedule:
Birney Elementary School
2501 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE
Washington, DC 20020
May 11th and June 1st
Savoy Elementary School
2400 Shannon Pl SE
Washington, DC 20020
May 7th and June 2nd
Ketcham Elementary School
1919 15th St. SE
Washington, DC 20020
May 4th and May 28th
Smothers Elementary School
4400 Brooks St. NE
Washington, DC 20019
May 1st and May 27th
Howard Road Academy
701 Howard Rd. SE
Washington, DC 20020
May 5th and June 3rd
Payne Elementary School
305 15th St. SE
Washington, DC 20003
May 8th and June 5th
John Carroll Elementary
1400 Nalley Terrace
Landover, MD
Wednesday May 13th
United for D.C.
United For D.C., Inc. was founded on January 8, 2002 as the charitable arm of Major League Soccer’s D.C. United. United For D.C. is a 501(c)3 organization chartered to serve the Washington, D.C. community through the creation or support of programs, events and organizations that advance educational and social welfare opportunities (primarily health and recreational) for the area’s youth, particularly those who may be economically, physically or mentally disadvantaged.
About Heart of America
Founded in 1997, The Heart of America Foundation's mission is to provide disadvantaged children with the tools they need to read, succeed and make a difference in life. The Heart of America Foundation's programs uniquely combine volunteer service and literacy. The organization is volunteer-led and peer-driven, operating with a small staff and hundreds of volunteers.
Broadcasting and P.A. Request: When speaking of the organization, please refer to the team as either “D.C. United” or “United,” but not “the D.C. United” or “the United.” We appreciate your cooperation.
Doug Hicks,
dhicks@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5448,
Boris Flores,
bflores@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5452,
Kyle Sheldon,
ksheldon@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5450 or
Cristina Cruz,
ccruz@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5440
