Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/279010
AEA Advocate x Summer 2014 19 read for 20 minutes each day – for a daily total of 24 minutes, all focused on developing good oral health and reading skills. "Tooth decay continues to top the charts as the number one most common chronic childhood disease and as a result is causing kids to miss critical instruction time at school," said Rob Mulligan, president and CEO of Renaissance Dental. "Our partnership with NEA's Read Across America provides a national platform for educating children about the importance of good oral health and encouraging teachers to integrate oral health education into their classrooms." The unique partnership between the nation's largest union of educators and Renaissance Dental also delivered books, toothbrushes, and other oral health items to students in need during the popular Cat-a-Van Reading Tour, which took place February 24 through March 14. The reading tour visited Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, South Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi. Originally created as a one-day event to celebrate the joy of reading, Read Across America, now in its 17th year and sponsored by NEA and Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P., has grown into a nationwide initiative that promotes reading every day. With Dr. Seuss's birthday falling this year on Sunday, March 2, the official "you're never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child." Read Across America, cont. on next page TOP: AEA President Andrew F. Morrill reads to kindergartners at Magnet Traditional School. BOTTOM: Second graders at ASU Preparatory Academy in Phoenix. Summer.14advo.indd 19 3/14/14 2:58 PM