Museum Updates Reach Out and Read Partnership Media Kit

ABOUT REACH OUT AND READ

Reach Out and Read is a national nonprofit that supports healthy early parent-child relationships through shared reading.

During routine well-child visits, Reach Out and Read medical providers discuss with parents and caregivers how to use books to engage with their infants and young children. They also give the child age-appropriate books to take home and read together with their family.

Reach Out and Read is the nation’s only pediatric literacy model endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). In the program, families of all backgrounds and economic means are encouraged to read with their young children using strategies that promote parent-child bonding and connection. About one-third of young children, and half of children living in poverty, arrive at kindergarten without the skills they need to do well in school. Giving every young child a foundation for success strengthens our society and helps combat the effects of income inequality. 

MCM’s literacy initiative, Talk from the Start (TFTS), shares a similar mission of influencing early childhood development between ages birth to five years old. Both TFTS and ROR agree that talking out loud to children from birth improves learning and language development. Reading together promotes healthy brain development, furthers language acquisition, and helps families build meaningful bonds.  

By partnering together, MCM will be able to reach children and families with a greater statewide reach and meet parents where they are – at their child’s wellness visits. This partnership allows MCM to work with medical professionals and early childhood clinics to serve their TFTS audience.  

PRESS RELEASE

MISSISSIPPI CHILDREN’S MUSEUM

The Mississippi Children’s Museum (MCM) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a mission of creating unparalleled experiences to inspire excellence and a lifelong joy of learning in all children. The 53,000-square foot museum is designed around five primary initiatives, with correlating exhibits, programs, and outreach efforts. These initiatives include: Literacy, STEAM, Health and Nutrition, Cultural Arts, and Mississippi Heritage – the keys to helping our children mature into healthy and productive adult learners. In response to community needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MCM shifted operating and programming priorities to best serve Mississippi’s children and combat learning loss through facilitating virtual schooling and creating online educational enrichment – services that continue today through a robust, daily afterschool program and an online platform for teacher professional development. 

In 2021, MCM celebrated a monumental year by receiving an Institute of Museum and Library Services National Medal, the nation’s highest honor for museums, and through opening its first satellite museum, MCM-Meridian, which received the 2021 Governor’s Award for Travel Attraction of the Year. To learn more about MCM visit www.mschildrensmuseum.org. 

READ OUT AND READ

Reach Out and Read is 501(c)3 nonprofit that gives young children a foundation for success by incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together. As the only evidence-based national pediatric model focused on emotional connections endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Reach Out and Read serves children in all 50 of the United States through 6,000 clinics and 33,000 clinicians. For more information, visit reachoutandread.org.

CHILDREN’S OF MISSISSIPPI

Children’s of Mississippi, part of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, encompasses all the pediatric services available at UMMC and at clinical sites throughout Mississippi. At the heart of these services is the state’s only hospital devoted exclusively to the care and treatment of sick and injured children. The Children’s of Mississippi network brings specialized clinical care for children to communities across the state, making it easier for families to get the treatment they need closer to home.  

UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI MEDICAL CENTER

As the state’s only academic medical center, UMMC seeks to improve the health of Mississippi’s population and eliminate health disparities through education, research and patient care. 

UMMC encompasses seven health science schools of medicine, nursing, health related professions, dentistry, pharmacy, graduate studies and population health. The Medical Center includes the state’s only Level I trauma center, only children’s hospital, only organ and bone marrow transplant program and the only Telehealth Center of Excellence, one of two in the nation. For more information, visit www.umc.edu. 

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Photos Courtesy of: Mississippi Children’s Museum