LeVar Burton has announced an ambitious project to bring Reading Rainbow into more homes and classrooms.
The goal of the Kickstarter campaign is to raise $1,000,000 and already almost a fifth of that has been pledged in the first day.
If the goal is met, Reading Rainbow will be available on the web, not just via an app for tablets, which often are out of the price range of poorer families. In addition, a curriculum will be devised for the classroom and distributed free-of-charge, to 1500 classrooms.
RRKidz, Burton’s company, hopes to “develop curriculum materials for teachers to use with the site, and a tool for them to track the reading progress of an entire classroom. The consumer-focused app, already used by some teachers, tracks just five readers on each account.”
“Teachers love Reading Rainbow,” said Burton. “We really want to put a version of the app in their hands that works for them.” The web version is expected to debut by the end of the year and in schools in mid-2015.
As usual, the Kickstarter campaign offer perks for donors of amounts ranging from $5.00 up to $10,000. Trek fans with deep pockets willing to donate $10,000 will join (with a guest) Burton for a private dinner, and get to take a “once-in-a-lifetime chance” to take a photo or video wearing the original VISOR worn by Burton on The Next Generation.
A more affordable $750.00 donation will allow a fan to meet Burton at a convention and includes two passes to a Trek, Comic or Fan convention, signed headshot from Burton, and a private Meet & Greet with Burton, where the donor will get time for autographs and pictures.
The Reading Rainbow Kickstarter campaign is located here.
Below is a video promoting the Kickstarter campaign. Be sure to watch to the end!
Source: The New York Times
