In a celebration of literacy, Cleveland Job Corps staff and students read to St. Jerome Elementary School’s preschool and first grade classes in March 2021, for National Read Across America Day. Launched in 1998 by the National Education Association (NEA), Read Across America Day encourages children and youth across the country to read more and have fun while exploring. The annual event generally falls on March 2nd.

Cleveland Job Corps Reading Instructor Camale Allen and students Tatyanna Staten (state-tested Nursing Assistant) and Jaykeyia Wadlington (Clinical Medical Assistant) virtually read I Am Enough by Grace Byers and Skin Like Mine by Latashia M Perry. The books were chosen because of their diversity and positive lesson, along with their promotion of self-love, kindness, and acceptance. The elementary school students’ excitement and participation level during the question-and-answer session after the reading warranted their teachers to invite Cleveland Job Corps back to read again.