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ABOUT THE EVENT
Reading Rainbow?s LeVar Burton, host and executive producer of the critically acclaimed and Emmy Award-winning children?s television series on PBS, will be at the Akron Civic Theatre for a fun and exciting evening celebrating reading and literacy on Thursday, April 22. Leadership Akron is planning the event for families as a part of its 20th anniversary celebration.
?Readers, Writers & Rainbows: A Reading Extravaganza!? begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Akron Civic Theatre lobby with hands-on activities for kids and a Scholastic Book Fair. The main event starts at 7:30 p.m. as singer-songwriter Jim Gill, guest of the Akron Area Association for the Education of Young Children, kicks off the program with lively music and audience participation.
Headliner LeVar Burton follows with an inspiring presentation designed especially for young children. Television audiences value LeVar?s ability to explain complicated issues to children, to ask the most interesting questions and to promote a sense of fun in reading and learning. He is a great teacher who champions children's literacy both personally and professionally.
LeVar?s presentation will conclude with the announcement of the local winners of PBS 45 & 49?s 10th Annual Reading Rainbow Young Writers & Illustrators Contest. He will meet and greet children after the presentation.
Every child will leave the event with a free Reading Rainbow gift bag full of goodies donated by participating organizations.
Tickets for ?Readers, Writers & Rainbows? are $5.00 for both children and adults and can be purchased through the Akron Civic Theatre in person or by calling . Tickets are also available online at ticketmaster.com, at all Ticketmaster Centers and through Ticketmaster?s charge-by-phone service at . For disability ticketing, call the Akron Civic Theatre at .
This City Reads!, Akron's new literacy initiative, endorses ?Readers, Writers & Rainbows,? and many of Akron's literacy organizations will be participating to show off why Akron deserves to be called "The Reading Capitol of the World."
"Teachers, librarians, parents and educators of all kinds will want to take advantage of this unique opportunity to see everything our community is doing to promote literacy and to see LeVar Burton's dynamic presentation," said Mary Ann Boland, executive director of Leadership Akron. "And the kids will love it, too. This event is a unique and fun opportunity to champion the cause of literacy with families."
For more information about the event, call PBS 45 & 49 at .
About Reading Rainbow and LeVar Burton
Reading Rainbow, the award-winning PBS children?s series hosted by LeVar Burton, takes viewers on unforgettable learning adventures to nurture a lifelong love of reading. PBS 45 & 49 airs Reading Rainbow weekdays at 11:00 a.m. The series is the most-watched program in the classroom, according to the most recent Corporation for Public Broadcasting?s Study of School Uses of Television and Video.
Reading Rainbow has garnered more than 150 awards in 20 seasons, including 16 Emmys (six for Outstanding Children's Series), a prestigious Peabody, eight CINE Golden Eagles, seven Parents Choice Awards and three international Priz Jeunesse Awards. The series was recognized in 2002 with two Emmys: Outstanding Children's Series and Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series.
Actor, director and producer LeVar Burton has been host of Reading Rainbow since its launch in 1984. Among his many awards for service to children, Burton received the 2004 Fred Rogers Award for Excellence in Children's Educational Media in February. He is just as well known to audiences as the character Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation and for his role as Kunta Kinte in the groundbreaking miniseries, Roots.
LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow are celebrating their 20th anniversary on public television this year.
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