76ers Celebrate Read To Achieve Month

The Philadelphia 76ers will celebrate March as Reading Month again this season with a series of events both on and off the court. Book drives, reading appearances and in-game activities will aim to promote literacy and highlight the 76ers Read to Achieve program.

The 76ers will once again conduct a book swap after the National Anthem with randomly selected children receiving a book from a Sixers player. Jesse D. Garrabrant NBAE/Getty Images More Reading Month photos Go on a Read to Achieve appearance with 76ers mascot Hip-Hop 56k | 300k

In the final phase of the “Drive for Kids” outreach initiative, rookie Willie Green and Comcast SportsNet’s Ron Burke are asking fans who attend 76ers home games in March to bring a new or gently-used children’s book for the “Rook for Books” book drive. Beginning March 4, the Sixers Dance team will be dressed in Read to Achieve T-shirts and assist in the collection of the books at the Wachovia Center. All donated books will be given to the Philadelphia READS program for distribution to schools, after-school programs, and community organizations.

Following the National Anthem at each home game during Reading Month, randomly selected children, who will be standing on the court, will receive a new book from a Sixers player. The children will receive either Strong to the Hoop or Yesterday’s Heroes.

Additionally, the Sixers will set-up a ‘Reading Corner’ in the Broad Street Atrium of the Wachovia Center. The area will be arranged as a reading lounge, complete with beanbag chairs, pillows and the Read to Achieve banner. Children will be randomly selected to visit the ‘Reading Corner’ at halftime where a member of the Sixers Read to Achieve team will read a short story to the youngsters. Following the session, each child will receive a copy of Scholastic Magazine and a Read to Achieve bookmark.

Sixers forward Marc Jackson will host a reading ‘time-out’ at the Comcast-Spectacor Police Athletic League Reading Corner on March 11 at 4:30 p.m. PAL’s newly renovated Reading Corner includes children’s books, area rugs and bookshelves, donated by Sixers Charities.

Green will continue his involvement with an interactive correspondence with a second-grade class from Moffet Elementary School in Kensington, Pa. Via Sixers.com, the Sixers guard will read the book, Good-bye Curtis and quiz the students on the story during the week of March 15-19, while the team is on the road. The students will respond to Green’s quizzes and will have the opportunity to ask the Detroit native questions of their own. The correspondence can be viewed daily on Sixers.com.

On March 22, Sixers’ guard Aaron McKie will be handing out autographed copies of Donald Hunt’s Chaney: Playing for a Legend to students from his high school alma mater, Simon Gratz, prior to the Sixers-Mavericks contest that evening. Tickets to the Sixers game, provided to each student, and the books, were donated by the 76ers.

Hip-Hop and members of the 76ers Read to Achieve team will be making school visits throughout the entire month:

3/1 Vernfield Elementary School Telford, Pa. 3/2 Shady Grove Elementary School Ambler, Pa. 3/3 St. Frances De Sales School Philadelphia, Pa. 3/10 Roosevelt Elementary School Pennsauken, N.J. St. Thomas Good Counsel School Bryn Mawr, Pa. 3/15 Montgomery Elementary School Chester Springs, Pa. S.S. Clement Irenaues School Philadelphia, Pa. 3/17 Whitemarsh Elementary School Lafayette Hill, Pa. Union Valley Elementary School Sicklerville, N.J. 3/29 James Elementary School Willingboro, N.J. 3/31 Wilson School Camden, N.J.