LOS ANGELES, Feb. 28, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- City National Bank today announced that it has awarded 121 Reading is The way up® literacy grants totaling more than $90,000 to support literacy-based projects as well as financial literacy to elementary, middle and high schools in California, Nevada, New York and Georgia. This year’s teacher literacy grants were the most City National has ever awarded since the literacy grant program began in 2005.
(For a list of all grant recipients, go to www.readingisthewayup.org/literacy.php.)
Reading is The way up is the award-winning non-profit literacy program through which City National has donated more than 500,000 books to elementary school libraries in California, Nevada, New York, Nashville, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia, and awarded more than 1,200 teacher grants to enhance literacy totaling over $1.2 million since the program’s inception.
The grants ranging from $500 to $1,000 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 107 schools and non-profit organizations 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.
“This is the third consecutive year that we have awarded a record number of literacy grants to educators in four states,” said Carolyn Rodriguez, vice president and manager of Reading is The way up for City National. “This year was also another record for the number of grant requests we received making the selection process very challenging since the money we award comes from our colleagues. The literacy grants are funded each year by our colleagues and the money they donate through our annual workplace giving program.”
Some of this year’s grants funded various literacy programs such as ‘Financial Literacy and Budgeting with Global Economy Comparisons’ at a school in California; ‘Let’s Make Reading Too Good to Pass Up’ at a school in Nevada, ‘READy for the River’ at a school in New York City; and ‘Robotics is our DEStiny’ at a 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 more than 500,000 books to California, Nevada, New York, Nashville, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia school libraries.
- Awarded over $1.2 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
With $47 billion in assets, City National Bank provides banking, investment and trust services through 72 offices, including 16 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, New York City, Nashville and Atlanta. In addition, the company and its investment affiliates manage or administer $58 billion in client investment assets.
City National is a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), one of North America’s leading diversified financial services companies. RBC serves more than 16 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the United States and 36 other countries.
For more information about City National, visit the company’s website at cnb.com.