Contact: Jacquelyn Spruce
Phone: (210) 567-0414
E-mail: sprucej@uthscsa.edu

Holiday cards are for sale through the Reach Out and Read program.
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Holiday cards featuring children’s unique artwork are on sale through the Reach Out and Read program at the Health Science Center. A box of 20 cards is $10 and you can choose from 10 different designs. Proceeds from the card sales will be used to purchase books for the Reach Out and Read program at the Health Science Center.

Reach Out and Read is a national, nonprofit program that seeks to improve early literacy by intervening with families during visits to the clinic for well-child check-ups. Children who live in an environment with books and are read to in their preschool years have proven to be more likely to learn to read on schedule. Through the Reach Out and Read program, physicians educate parents about the importance of reading to their children and offer age-appropriate tips and encouragement.

At all well-child check-up between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, the child is given a new, developmentally appropriate book to take home and keep. Through Reach Out and Read, children are able to start school with a home library of nine children’s books, and parents have a better understanding of the importance of reading to their children.

Reach Out and Read is offered through two Health Science Center programs. The first, the Children’s Health Center, is the training clinic for the pediatric residents and provides primary pediatric care to a large population of low-income families. The second, the PREMIEre program, is run by the division of neonatology and provides comprehensive follow-up care for premature infants. These programs distribute 4,000 books a year to San Antonio children. For more information, visit www.reachoutandread.org.

The holiday card project was made possible by a generous grant from the Semp Russ Fund of the San Antonio Area Foundation. For more information, contact Rebecca L. Huston, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics at the Health Science Center: HustonR@uthscsa.edu or (210) 562-5344. To see the holiday card brochure, visit http://www.uthscsa.edu/HSCNews/archive/HolidayCards.pdf.