Read to Succeed "Unplug and Read"

Read To Succeed gave Rutherford County the perfect excuse to enjoy some peace and quiet this week. And although the sixth annual UNPLUG & Read week has “officially” ended, organizers hope a part of every week will have folks unplugged from electronics and reading.

UNPLUG & Read, celebrated this year from February 12 to 18, is one of the many ways Read To Succeed promotes its mission to foster the importance of literacy in Rutherford County.

To participate, families, organizations, schools and businesses chose a time during the week to turn off all electronic devices and read a book.

Readers pledged the hours that they would turn off everything electronic and pick up a book on Read To Succeed’s website.  This year’s pledges more than doubled last year’s with community members pledging more than 1,000 hours of unplugged reading.

Several Murfreesboro City and Rutherford County schools encouraged their students to unplug and read at home during the week. At John Colemon Elementary in Smyrna, teachers promoted the event with students and parents and showed their commitment with thermometers displaying hours pledged.  The school even decided to extend the initiative for the rest of the year—the fifth graders alone, who were clearly in the lead, had pledged more than 11,000 minutes of unplugging and reading with their families at home. Melissa Austin, Reading and Math Intervention Coach at John Coleman, also told Read To Succeed that in the math labs at the school they unplugged the computers for this week and have been reading books about math topics. 

The Boys & Girls Club in Murfreesboro celebrated with special readers each afternoon.  Read To Succeed volunteers like Kory Wells, a local poet and Read To Succeed Council member, and Audrey Taveras, 2011’s Miss Tennessee, visited during the week to read with the students.  Mary Morriello, Education Director for The Boys & Girls Club, said they are celebrating literacy the entire month of February and wanted their literacy week to coincide with UNPLUG and Read.

Read To Succeed Executive Director Lisa Mitchell said participation in UNPLUG & Read grows each year.

“Thanks to the UNPLUG & Read! billboards donated by Lamar Advertising that are up around town, this is one of our most talked about events,” Mitchell said. “Everywhere I go people have been sharing stories of all the fun times they have had with books this week and that they love having a week focused on reading.”

Organizers hope the community will carry the message of the event throughout the year and remember the importance of making time to pick up a book.

For more information on UNPLUG & Read! and to find out about more Read To Succeed events in Rutherford County, please visit readtosucceed.org.