Public Radio for the Piedmont and High Country
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Children's MLK Read-In event at Wake Forest University to promote activism and literacy

Wake Forest University is hosting its 14th annual Read-In Day on Jan. 21st to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy and promote literacy.

The program is open to elementary school students in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. Participants will visit a variety of activity stations to learn about civil rights leaders, music, art, and reading. 

Each child will be paired with a volunteer reading buddy from Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem State University, or the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. 

Maura Bodziock, the Education Equity VISTA at Wake Forest, coordinated the program. 

“We want to teach our kids not only how to spell and read, but also to speak,” Bodziock said. “And to speak out on active concerns that they have in their community, and have a voice, and really use that voice to make positive change in our broader community.”

At the end of the event, each student will be able to take home two free books. 

“So we're hoping that this is kind of a starting point that's going to launch them into loving reading even more, and wanting to find out ways that they can help in their communities after the event is over,” Bodziock said. 

The event will be held at Wake Forest University in the Benson Center from 8 a.m. to noon. Registration is required, and more information can be found here.

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.

Amy Diaz began covering education in North Carolina’s Piedmont region and High Country for WFDD in partnership with Report For America in 2022. Before entering the world of public radio, she worked as a local government reporter in Flint, Mich. where she was named the 2021 Rookie Writer of the Year by the Michigan Press Association. Diaz is originally from Florida, where she interned at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and freelanced for the Tampa Bay Times. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of South Florida, but truly got her start in the field in elementary school writing scripts for the morning news. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.

Support quality journalism, like the story above,
with your gift right now.

Donate