A recent grant to the Billings Public Schools Education Foundation supported the Reading Rocks program. Reading Rocks is designed to reverse low-income students’ loss of reading achievement in the summer by offering reading activities in conjunction with Billings Public Schools Free Lunch program, which served 24,611 meals to children in six parks during the summer. This grant of $5,000 per year for 2014, 2015 and 2016 will support the continuation of Reading Rocks through its thirteenth year.
This summer:
- 2,100 books were distributed
- Each day, an average of 52 children attended
- 100 community members volunteered including a Billings Mustangs baseball player, Governor Steve Bullock, Mayor Tom Hamel, local firemen and other local celebrities