Doug Jones visits Birmingham school to celebrate ‘Read Across America Day’

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Senator Doug Jones meets with STAIR students in Birmingham, Ala. (via Twitter)

U.S. Senator Doug Jones kept his promise to Henry J. Oliver Elementary School students in Birmingham, Ala. by celebrating Read Across America Day with them on Friday.

Earlier in February, the STAIR program released this video on twitter, inviting Jones to come and read with them:

And Jones responded with his own video:

Jones read with 16 second-grade students who attend the Start the Adventure in Reading (STAIR) program at the elementary school; Read Across America Day is held annually on Dr. Seuss’ birthday, and celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

“I have been looking forward to meeting with these talented students for some weeks and I was so grateful to receive their very thoughtful invitation. For nearly twenty years, STAIR has been a model program in the Birmingham community and has provided thousands of underserved second-graders with the tools they need to improve their reading skills,” said Jones.

STAIR of Birmingham will provide 200 students from 13 different Birmingham City Schools with two hours of one-on-one tutoring in reading each week this year. Each week, students work with the same two trained volunteers who provide support for the entire school year. Generally, STAIR students improve their reading scores by an average of 90 percent upon completing the program.