KNPB is fully committed to improving educational outcomes for our state and significantly expanded its Ready To Learn workshops, writers contest and other educational services from 2018-2019. Each workshop incorporates an engaging video, a read aloud, and a fun hands-on activity to teach and reinforce the educational topic, which could include math, reading, science, technology, health, financial literacy, arts and more. From 2018 to 2019, we held 2,970 workshops, supporting 57,446 students in Washoe County, Lyon County, Douglas County, Carson City and Elko County and gifted 24,758 books to students who participated to add to their home libraries. During this year, we were able to provide 676 more workshops, reached 13,647 more students and gave 8,496 books than we did during the previous year. Thanks to funding from our community, KNPB continues to expand these workshops within our viewing area. Workshops are held at public schools, community centers, charter schools, home school groups, Head Start and private preschool programs.
KNPB also promotes our Writers Contest during our Ready to Learn workshops and significantly increased the number of student entries to a total of 2,634. Contest winners get their stories published for the website, a video produced introducing their stories and attend a celebration at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, where their books will be on display throughout the summer.
In addition to our other education workshops, KNPB is invested in the Martha Speaks Reading Buddies Program, an initiative that pairs Kindergarten or 1st grade students with 4th or 5th graders to meet one-on-one for ten 45-minute sessions t. Each session introduces four vocabulary words through 5 steps each session: a 15-minute video, discussion time, read aloud picture book, journal writing and an activity. 1,828 students participated in Martha Speaks Reading Buddies in 2018-2019.