Program raises money, collects books with fundraisers

Kids to Kids, a literacy program for at-risk youths, had two successful fundraisers during Nevada Reading Week. The program, sponsored by the nonprofit corporation Spread the Word Nevada, encourages literacy by distributing books to pupils at Southern Nevada schools.

During Nevada Reading Week, about 10,000 at-risk youths read more than 222,328 book pages in the annual Pennies for Pages One Hour Read-A-Thon. For the read-a-thon, individual and corporate sponsorships donated more than $30,000 toward the purchase of books for Kids to Kids.

In addition to the read-a-thon, 23,571 books were collected for the program through book drives at 16 schools across the valley. Canarelli Middle School collected the most books with 8,249.

Other participating schools and their book drive totals are: Walker International School (4,363); Staton Elementary School (1,362); Tanaka Elementary School (1,256); Lamping Elementary School (409); Wright Elementary School (281); Allen Elementary School (179); Schofield Middle School (1,778); Saville Middle School (1,537); Alexander Dawson School (694); Fertitta Middle School (444); Greenspun Middle School (306); Lied Middle School (251); Arbor View High School (859); Chaparral High School (166); and Hillcrest Academy (340).

Sierra Health Services also contributed to the fundraiser by collecting 1,097 books during its book drive.

All of the books collected will be given to students attending Southern Nevada elementary schools in the Kids to Kids program: Bell, Craig, Herron, Indian Springs, Jeffers, Squires, Sunrise Acres, Tate, Robert Taylor, Twin Lakes, Whitney, Wynn and Paradise Professional Development School.

Nevada Reading Week was Feb. 26-March 2.

On May 22, Spread the Word Nevada will adopt its 14th school, 100 Academy of Excellence, at an assembly at 10 a.m. at 2341 Comstock Drive in North Las Vegas.

In other youth news:

* Silverado High School hosted Relay for Life, a fundraiser to benefit the American Cancer Society, from 6 p.m. April 27 to 6 a.m. April 28.

Students from Key Clubs Division 28 South helped organize the event with featured teachers, cancer survivors from each school and 1,200 students from the following high schools: Silverado, Basic, Liberty, Del Sol, Coronado, Valley and Green Valley.

According to Silverado teacher Kathleen Karstensson, at last tally the event had raised more than $50,000.

* Mackey Elementary School, 2726 Englestad St., North Las Vegas, will have a family spring festival 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. The fundraiser will feature live music, games, bounce houses, face painting, crafts and an art exhibition. Admission is $1. For more information, call 799-7139.

If you know of a worthy candidate for this column, mail information to Youth Spotlight, Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070, or send faxes to 383-4676.