When a team representing Virginia Beach on a national stage called looking for fun props to use during a conference presentation, the CVB had just the thing – a few of our giant logo beach balls! Here’s a shot of Katie Cerqua (VBPL), Melissa Zibutis (OVR) and Laura Smart (Virginia Beach City Public Schools) following their case study presentation at the Transforming Local Government conference in St. Paul, Minn. Their session “Can Your Citizens Spare a Lunch Hour to Save the World?” highlighted the award-winning VB READS program which pulls together City government, the local school division, multiple non-profits, the business community, the military community, funders, several volunteer groups, and the families of struggling readers to tackle the critical issue of ensuring reading proficiency by third grade.
Coming up on its third year, the program has proven impact with student performance, community engagement and has received accolades for being a “Model Partner” with the Virginia Beach City Public Schools as well as being named the 2015-2016 Virginia State Outstanding Mentoring Program of the Year.