Tucson, AZ — August 17, 2021 — Learning A-Z®, a Cambium Learning Group company, in collaboration with UNICEF Kid Power, a UNICEF USA program, announced today that the classroom of Rachel Paterson at Kori Nevers Gakuin Elementary School in Japan is the winner of its donation drive. As the classroom that donated the most stars, Rachel Paterson’s third grade classroom will co-author a book for Learning A-Z to share around the world with students using Learning A-Z.
Students who participated in the star donation drive, on average, read three times more books, advanced in reading levels faster, and showed much higher engagement than students in classrooms that did not participate. Since the drive began in March 2021, students across the United States have donated over 255,000 meals to families in need in the U.S., while students throughout the rest of the world donated more than 1.6 million days of clean water to communities across the globe.
Learning A-Z joined forces with UNICEF Kid Power on this donation drive to motivate students to continue reading and completing their work to support their communities. Participating students used Learning A-Z online instructional resources Raz-Plus®, Raz-Kids®, Headsprout®, Science A-Z®, Vocabulary A-Z®, and Writing A-Z® to earn digital stars while completing assignments, which they converted into real-world impact. Through the program, U.S. students redeemed their stars for healthy meals to help those facing hunger in their communities, and students outside the U.S. redeemed their stars for water purification tablets to help communities in need around the world.
The winning classroom, a third-grade class taught by Rachel Paterson at Kori Nevers Gakuin Elementary School in Osaka, Japan, will collaborate to create a new book titled “We Are Marvelous.” The students will have the freedom to choose how to represent this topic.
“We are blown away by the compassion of these students. Thanks to their generosity, we have exceeded our expectations to provide healthy meals and clean water to families in need,” said Lisa O’Masta, president of Learning A-Z. “We are grateful to all of the classrooms that participated in our star donation program — all while advancing their literacy skills — and we continue to be inspired by their motivation to learn and dedication to helping others.”
“Here at UNICEF USA, we believe that kids have the power to make real-life impact, and our collaboration with Learning A-Z proves it,” said Ryan Modjeski, Managing Director of UNICEF Kid Power. “It’s our mission to use our platforms to bring together the joy of learning and literacy while giving back and helping families locally and globally.”
Learning A-Z and UNICEF Kid Power first collaborated in the fall of 2020. During an eight-week period, students generously donated more than 88,000 healthy meals, each reading an average of 10% more books and earning 2,416 stars to help communities in need. The two organizations collaborated again this spring to motivate students. After reaching their initial goal of 100,000 donations, they extended the drive through April 2021, and students continued to break donation records. Learning A-Z and UNICEF Kid Power are exploring further collaboration and are excited to see how motivated students will continue to use education to create real-world impact for communities in need.
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, which include Reading A-Z and Raz-Kids, are used by more than 12 million students in more than 170 countries. Learning A-Z is a Cambium Learning®Group company.
For information, please visit www.learninga-z.com or find us on Facebook or Twitter.
About Cambium Learning Group
Cambium Learning® Group is the education essentials company, providing award-winning education technology and services for K-12 markets. With an intentionally curated portfolio of respected global brands, Cambium serves as a leader in the education space, helping millions of educators and students feel more universally valued every day. In everything it does, the company focuses on the elements that are most essential to the success of education, delivering simpler, more certain solutions that make a meaningful difference right now. To learn more, visit www.cambiumlearning.com or follow Cambium on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Medium. The Cambium family of companies includes: Cambium Assessment, Lexia® Learning, Learning A-Z®, Voyager Sopris Learning®, ExploreLearning®, Time4Learning®, and Kurzweil Education®.
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 mission 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 collaboration between Learning A-Z and UNICEF Kid Power), sign up for free at http://unicefkidpower.org/kidsa-z.
Media Contacts:
Erin McCreadie
BLASTmedia for Learning A-Z
learningaz@blastmedia.com
317-806-1900 ext. 155
Nina Marie Costa
Manager of Public Relations & Entertainment Marketing
UNICEF USA
nmcosta@unicefusa.org
