Starting this Friday, young residents of Covington, Kentucky, will have the opportunity to participate in the annual Mayor's Reading Challenge. This initiative encourages children from Pre-K through 3rd grade to engage in reading and learning activities for at least 75 minutes each week. The challenge, now in its fifth year, will run from November 1 through December 13.

The program is open to all Covington students who are enrolled in the city's free bilingual apps: CleverKidsUniversity for ages 3 to 5 and Footsteps2Brilliance for ages 5 to 8. These tools are part of the Read Ready Covington early childhood initiative.

"Since beginning Read Ready Covington in late 2019, Covington children have been exposed to 187,355,033 words, and read more than 286,100 books found on the Foosteps2Brilliance and Clever Kids University apps," said Read Ready Covington Director Mary Kay Connolly. "Thank you Mayor Meyer, for your leadership."

Children participating in the challenge can enter a weekly raffle by completing their reading goals. Prizes include a $75 Stoney’s Village Toy Shoppe gift card, t-shirts, storybooks, treats, arts and craft materials/school supplies.

Connolly emphasized developing strong reading habits by suggesting strategies such as setting aside time to read daily and tracking progress using the available apps. "All of these habits are easy to accomplish using Footsteps2Brilliance and Clever Kids University apps," she noted.

She also advised moderation: “We encourage moderation so that children also play outside, do projects, help their families, and read print books as well.”

In addition to promoting app usage, Read Ready Covington organizes literacy events across housing communities in Covington. They also solicit book donations and support Little Free Libraries. The organization encourages families to explore playful learning landscapes throughout the city with murals and signs that form part of a literacy scavenger hunt.