The Literacy Network Of Greater La Teams With Ktla And Shea Homes For Public Service Campaign

According to WondersOfReading.org, in Southern California, four out of five third-grade students cannot read at the third-grade level. In an effort to correct that situation and improve literacy among all children, The Literacy Network of Greater Los Angeles has teamed with KTLA-TV, The WB and Shea Homes to launch a public awareness campaign that encourages parents to “Read With Your Child 15 Minutes a Day.”

A series of “Let’s Read” public service announcements stressing the importance of reading and how fun it can be are airing regularly on KTLA, where they will create more than four million impressions on viewers in the 18-54 age group.

“We have a literacy crisis in our community,” stated Patti Koltnow, interim executive director of The Literacy Network. “Studies have shown that spending just a few minutes a day reading to preschool age children can make a tremendous difference in their future success. It can help them enjoy learning and perform better in school. It can increase their chances of graduating from high school and going on to college. It can even help them avoid crime and drugs. That’s why we are spearheading this public awareness campaign, and we are grateful to Shea Homes and KTLA for their support.”

Peter Shea, president and CEO of the J.F. Shea Company Inc., said, “We believe nothing is more important to the prosperity of the communities we build than the future success of today’s children. By building their capability for success through reading, we will also be building a strong foundation for our entire nation’s future. That’s why we have made ‘Read With Your Child 15 Minutes a Day’ the centerpiece of our company-wide community outreach commitment.”

Victoire Vappie-Prothro, administrator of public service at KTLA, said, “KTLA has made children the primary focus of our public service activities, and we are grateful to The Literacy Network and Shea Homes for giving us an additional opportunity to reach out to the young people in our community. We enthusiastically echo the message that reading to kids can have a profound positive impact on their lives.”

The mission of the Literacy Network of Greater Los Angeles is to support and promote individual, family and workplace literacy efforts through networking, partnerships, resource-sharing and public awareness. Their vision is to improve the quality of life in our communities through literacy and they are determined to eradicate illiteracy in Southern California.

If you know someone who wants to improve his or her literacy skills, would like to volunteer, make a donation or receive a free copy of our literacy resource directory, please call (213) 237-6643 or visit online at literacynetwork.org. KTLA, The WB, is where LA Lives, connecting to the community through reliable and award-winning news and compelling entertainment in standard and high definition. KTLA/WB is a Tribune Broadcasting station. For additional information, visit ktla.com.

Shea Homes of Southern California is a division of Shea Homes Limited Partnership, an independent member of the Shea family of companies. Over the past century, members of the Shea family and their companies have accomplished many milestones, including completing work on the foundation of the Golden Gate Bridge, working on San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART) and serving as a managing partner for the construction of the Hoover Dam.

Yet Shea Homes’ most satisfying achievements continue to revolve around listening to its customers’ needs and satisfying those needs by providing an extensive selection of new home floor plans and quality workmanship in the finest neighborhoods and communities available today. Those efforts earned Shea Homes the distinction of being named one of “America’s Best Builders” by Builder Magazine and the National Association of Home Builders. For more information, please visit the company’s website at sheahomes.com.