National "Read aloud Day"
After a personal contact with the foundation "Stiftung Lesen", Reinhard Krueckemeyer (owner of Krueckemeyer GmbH + Co.KG) was hooked by the idea and the campaign "National Read aloud Day". He started working as a volunteer and went into kindergartens, read and donated books. Learning about this campaign, Jan Krueckemeyer, Managing Director of Reinhard Krueckemeyer GmbH & CO.KG contacted his former teacher and current schoolmaster of grammar school "Gymnasium Am Löhrtor (GAL)", Mr. Klaus Schuette, to offer the pupils of Siegen the possibility to take part in this National Read aloud Day. After a short discussion things were settled and the plans for a reading in the assembly hall of GAL were fixed. As the mission is to get in contact with the youth, the morning was chosen and separated into two reading parts. The 4th grades of elementary schools in Siegen as well as the 5th and 6th grades of the GAL were invited to the first reading part. The audience of the second part was mainly the 7th and 8th grade of Gymnasium Am Loehrtor. The next step was to find the readers. This was the time Klaus Krueckemeyer came into the play. Due to his work for radio stations (e.g. hr3; YOU, FM, Radio Siegen), as a journalist, speaker, anchorman and actor at Hessische Staatstheater, Wiesbaden he knows how important reading is and has to deal with it every day. He agreed to work as a reader and anchorman. Further interesting readers, who were prepared to take a day off and work as a volunteer reader, had to be found. Surprisingly soon Klaus Krueckemeyer was able to find further readers and on 17. November 2006 more than 500 thrilled kids in Siegen took part in this 3. National Read aloud Day. Since this great success, an annual reading has been taking place at the Stage of the City Siegen.
The National Read aloud Day is the peak of the all-season initiative "Wir lesen vor", an initiative of the “Stiftung Lesen” and the weekly magazine DIE ZEIT, which has been started in 2004. This day shall pass on the enthusiasm for reading and reading aloud as well as raise the awareness of this education policy matter. The background: Have time for the kids and regularly read something aloud to them as reading is no longer a standard in the daily routine of our families. A current survey shows that 42 % of all parents with kids of 0 - 10 years (which is the best time to read aloud) rarely read aloud or do not read aloud at all. Other surveys show that 1/4 of all 15 years old teenagers in Germany are not able to read correctly, nearly half of them never read a book just for fun. The mission of this initiative is to make reading aloud and telling stories more popular again in Germany. The early contact with books and the joy of reading shall be supported. Only young children who enjoy books will feel comfortable in the world of books as a teenager or adult. The objective of this "Read aloud Day" is to set the pace beyond this day. "An objective, worth to support", Jan Krueckemeyer says.
