Seattle and seven South King County cities, including Renton, were named All-America Cities by the National Civic League recently, based on the region’s ambitious plan to ensure that more children are reading at grade level by the end of third grade.

Chosen from a field of more than 100 entries, the proposal for Seattle and the cities of Auburn, Burien, Federal Way, Kent, Renton, SeaTac and Tukwila was submitted by the Road Map Project, a cradle-to-college-and-career initiative aimed at improving education in South Seattle and South King County. The community was one of 14 awardees selected from 32 finalists.

The awards were handed out at the conclusion of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading conference in Denver. Awardees will compete again in 2016 based on results obtained from efforts to improve third-grade reading.

Objectives of Seattle and the South King County cities’ plan include building and sustaining a major regional commitment to improving grade-level reading and developing broad public awareness efforts to make third-grade reading a regional priority.

• Let’s Read is a regional campaign that is underlining the importance of summer reading for children through a partnership of cities, districts, libraries, nonprofit organizations and other groups. So far, the campaign has distributed 40,000 flyers at 123 King County elementary schools and enlisted local mayors to record public service announcements.  The effort also aims to connect families to library resources, book recommendations and events.

• Summer Boost, a new project in Highline, aims to support children’s learning over the summer and connect families to the library system. Families participating in the project are connected with library story times and get materials and activities to take home.

Beyond the award contest, Seattle and South King County’s plan makes the region a charter member in the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Communities Network, a national movement of local and state leaders, nonprofits, and foundations putting a stake in the ground on third-grade reading. That milestone marks the point when children shift from learning to read and begin reading to learn.

The awards are given each year by the National Civic League for outstanding civic accomplishments. Ordinarily, applicants choose their own local projects to showcase, but this year NCL is teaming with the Campaign to encourage community-based partnerships to improve reading proficiency among young students.