Events

Help your English Language Learners Stay Sharp Over the Summer

June 8, 2009

Conceived by acclaimed children’s author Pat Mora in 1996, Día is a nationwide celebration of children, families, literacy, and culture. “We were thrilled to help bring Día to New York City,” said Learning Leaders’ President Mindy Duitz. “April 30th was a day to celebrate the proud heritage of our City’s Latino families, as well as an opportunity to continue Learning Leaders’ efforts to promote literacy by encouraging parents and children to explore their cultural and linguistic traditions together.”

The free event was open to parents of New York City’s 415,000 Latino school children and included a wide offering of dual-language workshops presented by family literacy professionals from Learning Leaders, Scholastic, and Lectorum. Workshops focused on a range of topics fostering cultural identity and an enduring love of reading and language. They also promoted children’s literacy skills through activities with traditional native-language literature. Teresa Mlawer, President of Lectorum and a Learning Leaders volunteer, conceived of the event to expose Latino parents to resources and exercises intended to increase their children’s English and Spanish literacy, and foster their success in school.

Día took place at Scholastic’s global headquarters at 557 Broadway (between Prince and Spring Streets) from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and featured special guest speaker Mariela Dabbah.