This week, the Wilton Education Foundation kicked off its 10th year for the Reading Rocks! program, which, in its first nine years, raised more than $340,000 in total for Wilton’s schools.

The program invites all students in grades PreK-5 to participate in WEF’s fun and non-competitive Read-A-Thon with a goal to encourage children to have fun reading while raising money for WEF, with all proceeds benefitting Wilton Public Schools.

Children are able to choose their own goals for this Read-A-Thon. The goal is completely up to children and their families. Some ideas include independent reading, reading with an adult or sibling, flipping through a picture book, reading via Skype with a far-away relative, or anything else imaginable.

In prior years, the Reading Rocks! effort helped WEF fund:

  • Document Cameras for remote learning technologies
  • Building of a greenhouse at Middlebrook School
  • Building of the recording studio used for the news at Miller-Driscoll
  • Upgrade of the Learning Commons and the video studio at Cider Mill School
  • The Science Fair at Middlebrook
  • Building of a recording studio at Wilton High School
  • Support of coding and Lego robotics, expanding the STEM program
  • The purchase of SMARTboards, iPad carts, and StarLab
  • Seed money to fund a book publishing program to inspire 6th-8th grade budding authors.
  • Ongoing professional development opportunities for our teachers to support cutting-edge curriculum initiatives

For more information, visit the Reading Rocks! webpage

2021 Program Details

  • Registration/Pledges:  Reading Rocks is 100% virtual this year, and students will be able to personalize their own individual fundraising pages. More information and links will be distributed to students.
  • The official kick-off is Monday, Feb. 1
  • Wednesday, Feb. 3 is World Read Aloud Day and organizers will share a recording of a Wilton community member reading a book aloud.
  • Pledges and money are due back on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, which is “Dress Like a Rock Star Day.” The Middlebrook “ROCKestra” will be recording and sharing a rock piece they’re working on to be viewed by Cider Mill students.
  • Reading period is Feb. 6-20