On one day in November every year, a small army of Appalachian Power employees fans out to hundreds of elementary schools across West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee. Tucked under the arms of line mechanics, meter readers, customer call center representatives, power plant workers and engineers is a children’s book. 

 

In 2019, more than 300 employees read to more than 20,000 students at about 420 schools. They then left the book with the school as a donation to the school library.

“We support education in many ways and at all levels, from Pre-K to higher education,” said Chris Beam, Appalachian Power president and a volunteer reader. “But Read to Me Day is special. It’s a boots-on-the-ground way we can show every school we serve that we value education and support what they do. Even more important, it’s a way to show children that reading is important.”

The science behind good reading skills is clear. Research shows that when children become good readers by third grade, they are more likely to perform well in other subjects and graduate high school. It is the key building block to developing skills that lead to college and career success.

Appalachian Power started participating in Read to Me Day in 2001 and estimates that it has read to more than 275,000 students and donated about 6,500 books since then.

Employees read the book The Boy Who Touched the Stars, by José Hernández, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. The autobiography describes the author’s journey as the son of migrant workers from Mexico to becoming an astronaut on the Space Shuttle Discovery.