BATON ROUGE – LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson was the kickoff reader to young children Friday as the Reach Out and Read program began at the local Ochsner Bluebonnet Clinic.
The national program believes in making books part of a healthy childhood and is part of an evidence-based early literacy initative that helps doctors and nurses to prepare children to succeed in school.
Reach Out and Read make literacy promotion a standard part of pediatric primary care, so that children grow up with books and a love of reading.
Reach Out and Read trains doctors and nurses to advise parents about the importance of reading aloud and to give books to children at pediatric checkups from 6 months through 5 years of age, with a special focus on children growing up in poverty. By building on the unique relationship between parents and medical providers, Reach Out and Read helps families and communities encourage early literacy skills so children enter school prepared for success in reading.
Coach Johnson read a book to a group of young kids while seated in a rocking chair and then coach and Ochsner officials handed out book bags to the youngsters who were then treated to a morning snack of cookies and milk.
For more information on the program go to reachoutandread.org. Ochsner is a Team LSU sponsor of LSU athletics.