Tucson, AZ—Mar. 25, 2021—Today, Learning A-Z®, a Cambium Learning® Group brand, announced through its recent partnership with UNICEF Kid Power, that students across the country have donated over 63,000 meals to families in need in the U.S. and over 490,000 days of safe drinking water to communities around the rest of the globe. As a result of this milestone, Learning A-Z has extended the drive into April 2021, in hopes of motivating students to continue reading and completing their work to support their communities.
Together, Learning A-Z and UNICEF Kid Power encourage students around the world who use Learning A-Z’s online instructional resources Raz-Plus®, Raz-Kids®, Headsprout®, Science A-Z®, Vocabulary A-Z®, and Writing A-Z® to convert the digital stars they earn while completing assignments into real-world impact. Through the program, students can redeem the stars for healthy meals to help those facing hunger in their communities. Students outside the U.S. will have the ability to donate toward water purification tablets for families in need around the world.
“Kids are incredible. All we did was provide students with an opportunity to help others while learning, and they have completely overwhelmed us with their generosity,” said Lisa O’Masta, president of Learning A-Z. “Teachers are sharing that their students are reading and completing more assignments in order to earn more stars, just so they can create a larger impact. We could not have asked for a better outcome, and look forward to seeing what more they can accomplish with this extended deadline.”
Learning A-Z and UNICEF Kid Power first collaborated back in the fall of 2020. During an eight week period, students generously donated more than 88,000 healthy meals. They each read an average of 10% more books and earned 2,416 stars in order to help communities in need. The two organizations collaborated again this spring and motivated students with the higher goal of 100,000 donations.
“Helping others really motivates kids,” said Ryan Modjeski, managing director of UNICEF Kid Power. “We see this every day as kids participate in our free video platform to unlock real-world impact, and we are thrilled by how motivated the Learning A-Z students are to practice reading to help children in need.”
Teachers can double the impact. When U.S. teachers sign up for UNICEF Kid Power and link their Learning A-Z and UNICEF Kid Power accounts, they will receive digital coins (equal to the number of Learning A-Z stars they redeemed for meals) in their UNICEF Kid Power account. Teachers and students can redeem these coins for even more impact in their local communities.
This Spring, the classroom that donates the most stars will have the opportunity to co-author a book for Learning A-Z and share their book with students using Learning A-Z around the world. To learn more about this initiative or how to get your school district involved, visit this page.
About Learning A-Z
Learning A-Z® delivers PreK–6 solutions that inspire curiosity, ensure comprehension and instill the joy of learning for elementary students. Its award-winning digital products are used by more than 11 million students in more than 170 countries. Learning A-Z is a business unit of Cambium Learning®Group, Inc.
For information, please visit www.learninga-z.comor find us on Facebook or Twitter.
About UNICEF
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to pursue a more equitable world for every child. UNICEF has helped save more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization, by providing health care and immunizations, safe water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more.
UNICEF USA advances the global missing of UNICEF by rallying the American public to support the world’s most vulnerable children. Together, we are working toward a world that upholds the rights of all children and helps every child thrive. For more information, visit www.unicefusa.org.
About UNICEF Kid Power
UNICEF Kid Power® is a free UNICEF USA program that offers interactive videos to help children discover how their everyday activities—such as moving and learning—can make a difference in the world. By getting active with UNICEF Kid Power, kids unlock therapeutic food that UNICEF delivers to severely malnourished children around the world and earn local impact for causes they care about in their own communities. The more kids move and learn, the more lives they save. Visit www.unicefkidpower.org to learn more. To make even more impact (beyond the partnership between Learning A-Z and UNICEF Kid Power), sign up for free at http://unicefkidpower.org/kidsa-z.
Media Contacts:
Adam Gay
Director of Marketing Strategy
Learning A-Z
adam.gay@learninga-z.com
Nina Marie Costa
Manager of Public Relations & Entertainment Marketing
UNICEF USA
nmcosta@unicefusa.org
