Project Read - History

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world…”  Nelson Mandela

Project Read Founder, Ronda Barber, strongly believes in this philosophy as she organized the 1st Summer Reading Academy in 2000.  The mother of four, Barber wanted to engage students to read during the summer months.  Students in the Newark OH Public School district were performing poorly on state proficiency tests and in the classroom.  Recognizing the link between good readers and success in the classroom, Barber knew that if students could be engaged to read during the summer vacation, they would be better prepared for the upcoming school term.

She started Project Read to encourage area students to read. The program has expanded and Project Read now provides educational and cultural enrichment activities to Central Ohio youth.  Barber believes the availability of reading enrichment activities and positive supervised academic preparation programming will have a positive impact on the participants and community as a whole.