LOS ANGELES, March 2, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- City National Bank today announced that it has awarded 125 Reading is The way up® literacy grants totaling more than $115,000 to support literacy-based projects at elementary, middle and high schools in California, Nevada, New York and Georgia. This year's literacy grant program also experienced the most grant applications ever submitted since the program began in 2002.
(For a list of all grant recipients, go to www.readingisthewayup.org/literacy.php.)
Reading is The way up is the award-winning literacy initiative through which City National has donated more than 300,000 books to elementary school libraries in California, Nevada, New York, Nashville, Nashville, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia, and awarded close to 1,000 teacher grants to enhance literacy totaling nearly $1 million since the program's inception.
The grants ranging from $500 to $1,500 will help augment or expand literacy projects that were judged to be creative and engaging, and that would have a tangible effect on student achievement. The winning programs are expected to directly improve literacy to more than 15,000 students in 116 schools throughout California, Nevada, New York and Georgia.
The educators receiving literacy grants were selected from among the many full-time teachers, librarians, administrators and school media specialists who submitted an online application. The one-page application was available to educators in every school district throughout the bank's five-state footprint.
"We are very excited to be awarding a record number of literacy grants this year to so many deserving teachers throughout our footprint," said Carolyn Rodriguez, vice president and manager of Reading is The way up for City National. "We were also pleased to see the number of grant applications reach record levels. This means more teachers are learning about our literacy grant program and are applying for additional funds to initiate more literacy-based programs in the classroom."
Some of this year's grants funded various literacy programs such as 'Deciphering The Secrets of the Periodic Table' at a high school in California, 'A Reader Grows A Kinder Garden' at an elementary school in Nevada, 'Kindergarten Engineering And Coding Literacy' at an elementary school in a New York City; and 'Bringing the WORLD to Refugee Students' in an international school in Georgia.
About Reading is The way up®
Originally established to help improve the education of California's future leaders, City National in April 2002 launched the multi-faceted Reading is The way up initiative to restock the state's school library system. The program has since been expanded to include all areas where the bank has a presence. Since its inception, the award-winning program has:
- Donated 300,000 books to California, Nevada, New York, Nashville, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia school libraries.
- Awarded close to $1 million to teachers at elementary, middle and high schools for creative literacy projects.
- Received the 2005 President's Volunteer Service Award, the 2005 Corporate Philanthropy Award from the Los Angeles Public Library, the 2006 Corporate Award from the Getty House Foundation, the Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership Corporate Citizen Award, and honored as the 2007 Corporate Visionary Partner by the Wonder of Reading.
- Received the 2013 Innovations Reading Prize Award presented by the National Book Foundation.
- Received the 2013 Outstanding Corporation of the Year Award presented by the Clark County School District-Community Partnership Program in Las Vegas, NV.
- Received the 2013 Angel Light Foundation Award for excellence in community service and educational outreach presented by the Angel Light Academy in Orange County, CA.
The Reading is the Way Up Fund is a 501(c)(3) administered by the California Community Foundation. For more information, visit www.readingisthewayup.org.
About City National
City National Corporation (NYSE:CYN) has $32.6 billion in assets. The company's wholly owned subsidiary, City National Bank, provides banking, investment and trust services through 75 offices, including 16 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, New York City, Nashville and Atlanta. City National and its investment affiliates manage or administer $60.8 billion in client investment assets, including $48.1 billion under direct management.
For more information about City National, visit the company's Website at cnb.com.