Media Releases

Reinforcing Literacy Skills for Girls

Girl Scouts Encourage Girls to Form Book Clubs

Media Contact:
Ann Marie van den Hurk, APR
302-456-7170
avandenhurk@cbgsc.org

Newark, DE, November 8, 2005:  More than a third of fourth graders can’t read at a basic level. 58% of Hispanic and 63% of African-Americans fourth graders don’t have basic reading skills.

As part of National Book Week (November 14-18), Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council is encouraging girls to form book clubs. The goal of the book club is to put the fun back into reading and giving girls in grades fourth through sixth a choice of issues they want to discuss during book club meetings. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis will be the first book for reading and discussion.

The ability to read, write, communicate, and understand has never been more crucial. After all, ours is an information and knowledge-based society. If girls and young women are to thrive in this information age, they must become lifelong learners, so they will have the ability to build their knowledge and skills. Girl Scout program activities reinforce literacy skills through fun, dynamic, and interactive activities. In the process, girls and young women learn how to access rich and varied resources available to them not only in their communities, but also worldwide via cyberspace.

Most importantly, literacy program activities offered in Girl Scouting help girls grow strong by encouraging them to develop communications skills that can expand their horizons and opportunities.

Girl Scouting builds girls of confidence, courage, and character, who make the world a better place. We do that by providing girls with personal leadership development and programs that build real life skills for the real world. To learn more about Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council, visit www.girlscoutschesapeakebay.org.

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