Cass County Reading Railroad literacy parents

A campaign to change lives in Cass County, Indiana by supporting parents as their child's first teacher,
to help them achieve their utmost by Kindergarten and first grade.

Are you ready for the journey
of a lifetime?

Our children are our future. What we invest in them today will not only determine their future, but ours as well.

One of the best investments is in teaching our children to read at an early age. Studies have shown that 74% of children who leave third grade reading below grade level never catch up. The Reading Railroad Campaign wants all Cass County children to get a jumpstart on reading, so they're on track even earlier -- by kindergarten and first grade! So now there’s an easy way for you to help shape the future for our children and our community.

What’s at stake

Reading is the key to academic success and employment opportunities. Yet, only 30 percent of Indiana fourth graders and 28 percent of our eighth graders are at or above the “proficient” level in reading.

According to national research, how well a person will read as an adult is predictable as early as the first grade. Most students who are poor readers in their early elementary years remain poor readers in high school and are less likely to graduate from high school.

Source: The Indiana Youth Institute, www.iyi.org, Spring 2006.

Get on board the Cass County Reading Railroad, and learn how you can change the future for a child in your life by reading together 20 minutes every day.