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Written by Andrea Chen Tuesday, 09 June 2009 12:16 New Orleans Hornets Forward Peja Stojakovic has been named as an Honorary Advisory Board Member of the First Book-Greater New Orleans Advisory Board. The Peja Stojakovic Children's Foundation and First Book-Greater New Orleans have a shared interest in promoting children's literacy in the area by providing brand new books to children from low-income families.
"Reading is an important part of everyday learning and I believe that supporting literacy is fundamental for children's education today. It is my honor to be able to team up with First Book and do my part to promote children's literacy in the Greater New Orleans area," said Stojakovic.
Since August 2007, First Book-Greater New Orleans has conducted 4 grant cycles and awarded book grants to more than 75 literacy programs (after school programs, daycare centers, classrooms, nonprofits, etc.) totaling 35,000 brand new books serving over 6,000 children from low-income families in the Greater New Orleans region.
"These high-interest books from First Book-Greater New Orleans were the perfect starter resources that would lead my students to enjoy reading," notes Mr. Tan Huynh, who teaches ninth grade English in an under-resourced high school, West Jefferson High School.
"My students' reaction was better than I could have expected. If you would walk into my classroom, you would see 33 high school students, hunched over their Frederick Douglass autobiographies, pens in hand - taking notes on the side of the margins as they read independently. There is some immeasurable and unidentifiable magic that occurs when you give students their own books, time to read at their own pace, books that interest them, and instructions on annotating their text. This magic produced independent and engaged readers. Without First Book's donations, without physical books that my students can call their own, reading would still be intimidating, boring, and a lifeless activity lost of all magic that comes with literacy."
First Book-Greater New Orleans also announced that its second 2009 book grant application deadline is September 25. Visit www.firstbook.org/nola for more information and to download the application.
About the Peja Stojakovic Children's Foundation
Following Hurricane Katrina, Peja Stojakovic teamed up with former NBA All-Star and current NBA analyst for "Inside the NBA" on TNT, Kenny Smith, and sent two semi-trucks filled with donated items for the people of New Orleans. Since the Hornets move back to New Orleans, Peja has been active with his organization by building basketball courts for kids, distributing food and necessities to needy people as well as distributing books and school supplies to youth organizations (First Book being one of the beneficiaries). In recognition of his charitable work, Stojakovic received the NBA's Community Assist Award for the month of December 2009. The mission of the Peja Stojakovic Children's Foundation is to provide and educate children and their families on issues of critical concern such as food, shelter, economic self-sufficiency and hope. For more information, log on to www.peja16.com or call 504-208-2274.
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