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Nicor Celebrates National Book Month by Launching 2nd Year of Reading Program

Nicor Celebrates National Book Month by Launching 2nd Year of Reading Program

Published 10-08-07

Submitted by NICOR Inc.

NAPERVILLE, IL - Nicor is proud to once again begin its Adventures in Reading with Nicor program, and host the return of the costumed hero, Super Reader. As October is National Book Month, an annual event to encourage readers of all ages to enjoy reading books, it is a perfect time to kick-off this year's Adventures in Reading with Nicor, a program designed to encourage northern Illinois students to read.

Nicor successfully launched the program last year and distributed more than 5,000 books to approximately 1,700 Illinois students.

The program, Adventures in Reading with Nicor, is a unique reading program designed to foster a life-long love of reading among children through a four pronged approach:

  • Providing free books to students and their parents

  • Presenting professional development training for teachers

  • Offering special coaching sessions for parents

  • Contributing motivational prizes and activities

    "Adventures in Reading with Nicor provides us an opportunity to invest in the most important asset of any community, our children. This program allows us to help develop young minds by encouraging them to explore the wonderful world of reading. I believe reading is one of the most important skills a child can have as it is the gateway to so many good things in life," said Russ Strobel, Chairman, President and CEO of Nicor Inc. and Nicor Gas.

    To help promote the program and get the children motivated and excited to read, Nicor created the super hero character named Super Reader.

    "Super Reader comes from the planet Lexicon, and his lifelong goal is to help children experience the joys of reading and to show them how they too can become Super Readers," said Julian Brown, Nicor Gas Corporate Contributions Manager.

    Super Reader has returned to Earth during National Book Month to visit two schools, Cicero West Elementary and Zenon J. Sykuta School. This costumed hero will encourage students to read by his example and assist with distributing free books and prizes to students. He will also help kick off the event by sharing his story of how he became a "super reader." Prior to his appearance there will be a life-sized cutout of Super Reader available at the schools, so the students who complete a reading score card can place their faces in the cutout and pose for pictures as Super Reader's apprentice.

    "Educational programs like Adventures in Reading with Nicor strengthen the fabric of our communities by enriching children’s lives and preparing them for the future," said Strobel.

    To implement the Adventures in Reading with Nicor program, Nicor has partnered with two schools in its service territory to support local Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) programs. The largest non-profit literacy group in the United States, RIF has been developing and implementing programs to help encourage children to read since 1966.
    Each of the schools participating in the Adventures in Reading with Nicor program will host three book distributions per school year. At each distribution, students will have the opportunity to select a book of their choice. Prior to Super Reader arriving at the schools for the initial book distribution, the students are presented with a reading score card, that gets them started on the program. Once students have read a book, they review it by filling out the score card and submitting the completed score cards for a chance to win a prize at the book distributions.

    For information on Reading Is Fundamental, visit www.rif.org.

    Nicor Inc. (NYSE: GAS) is a holding company and is a member of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Its primary business is Nicor Gas, one of the nation's largest natural gas distribution companies. Nicor owns Tropical Shipping, a containerized shipping business serving the Caribbean region and the Bahamas. In addition, the company owns and has an equity interest in several energy-related businesses. For more information, visit the Nicor Web site at www.nicor.com.

  • NICOR Inc. logo

    NICOR Inc.

    NICOR Inc.

    Nicor Inc. (NYSE: GAS) is a holding company and is a member of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Its primary business is Nicor Gas, one of the nation's largest natural gas distribution companies. Nicor owns Tropical Shipping, a containerized shipping business serving the Caribbean region and the Bahamas. In addition, the company owns and has an equity interest in several energy-related businesses.

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