28
April
2014
|
11:33 AM
America/Chicago

President Flores and Dr. Bezette-Flores Speak with Former First Lady on Literacy Issues

Dr. Noel Bezette-Flores, right, with former First Lady Barbara Bush, center, and UHD President Bill Flores.

UHD President Bill Flores and Dr. Noel Bezette-Flores, director of the Center for Public Service and Family Strengths (CPSFS), were guests at the Barbara Bush-Celebration of Reading 2014 event last week at the Hobby Center.

The event, sponsored by Shell, benefited the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and the Barbara Bush Texas Fund for Family Literacy.

Dr. Bezette-Flores spoke with event host Neil Bush, and both President Flores and Dr. Bezette-Flores were able to meet with former First Lady Barbara Bush to discuss UHD's work with literacy, the Center for Public Service and Family Strengths and the National Education Association's Big Read initiative.

The Barbara Bush Foundation for Literacy's key goals are to raise awareness of Houston's literacy crisis, that every child enters kindergarten ready to read, that every child reads proficiently by the end of third grade and to ensure that young adults graduate on time with literacy skills necessary for the workforce or higher education. Houston educators and civic leaders say that far too many citizens can't read well, the subject of a report, "Houston's Literacy Crisis: A Blueprint for Community Action," released Thursday by the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation.