Today we are excited to announce that 42 Governors’ Spouses, 3 Governors and 1 Lieutenant Governor representing the U.S. and U.S. territories have signed on to serve as Reading Ambassadors for the 2017 Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge!
According to research from the Kids & Family Reading Report™: 6th Edition, 80% of children ages 6–17 agree that summer reading will help them during the school year, but one in five kids from lower-income families did not read any books at all last summer.To help provide kids in need with access to books, our Reading Ambassadors have donated 500 Scholastic books to schools across their respective states and hosted in-school summer reading celebrations to generate excitement about summer reading.
Check out these great photos from events hosted by the First Lady of Arizona Angela Ducey, West Virginia’s First Lady Cathy Justice, and First Lady of New Hampshire Valerie Sununu.
Scholastic thanks the following Governors, Governors’ Spouses and Lieutenant Governors for serving as Reading Ambassadors for the 2017 Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge:
Alaska – First Lady Donna Walker
Alabama – Governor Kay Ivey
American Samoa – First Lady Cynthia Malala Moliga
Arizona – First Lady Angela Ducey
Arkansas – First Lady Susan Hutchinson
Connecticut – First Lady Cathy Malloy
Delaware – First Lady Tracey Quillen Carney
Georgia – First Lady Sandra Deal
Guam – First Lady Christine Sonido Calvo
Hawaii – First Lady Dawn Amano-Ige
Idaho – First Lady Lori Otter
Illinois – First Lady Diana Rauner
Indiana – First Lady Janet Holcomb
Iowa – First Lady Christine Branstad
Kansas – First Lady Mary Brownback
Maine – First Lady Ann LePage
Maryland – First Lady Yumi Hogan
Massachusetts – First Lady Lauren Baker
Michigan – First Lady Sue Snyder
Minnesota – Governor Mark Dayton
Mississippi – First Lady Deborah Bryant
Missouri – First Lady Sheena Greitens
Montana – First Lady Lisa Bullock
Nevada – First Lady Kathleen Sandoval
New Hampshire – First Lady Valerie Sununu
New Jersey – First Lady Mary Pat Christie
New Mexico – First Gentleman Chuck Franco
New York – Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul
North Carolina – First Lady Kristin Cooper
North Dakota – First Lady Kathryn Helgaas Burgum
Northern Mariana Islands – First Lady Diann Torres
Ohio – First Lady Karen W. Kasich
Oklahoma – First Gentleman Wade Christensen
Oregon – First Gentleman Dan Little
Pennsylvania – First Lady Frances Wolf
Rhode Island – First Gentleman Andy Moffit
South Dakota – First Lady Linda Daugaard
Tennessee – First Lady Crissy Haslam
U.S. Virgin Islands – Governor Kenneth Mapp
Utah – First Lady Jeanette Herbert
Vermont – First Lady Diana McTeague-Scott
Virginia – First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe
Washington – First Lady Trudi Inslee
West Virginia – First Lady Cathy Justice
Wisconsin – First Lady Tonette Walker
Wyoming – First Lady Carol Mead
Top photo: First Lady of New Hampshire Valerie Sununu reads to a classroom of students
Bottom photo: First Gentleman of Oregon Dan Little reads to a classroom of students
