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Source: Tam D. Photography / Radio One Digital On Tuesday, October 29th Saving Our Daughters & Everybody Wins! Atlanta hosted a Story Time session with Disney’s “Lion King” Broadway actress, Nia Holloway and HOT’s 107.9’s own, Mz Shyneka. In 2013, Nia was cast as in the principle role of “Nala” in the North American Tour of Disney’s the Lion King Broadway. At 17 years old, she became the youngest actress ever to nab the role. Nia and Mz Shyneka inspired the importance of reading and literacy, at the Barack and Michelle Obama Academy for over 100 Kindergarten and First Grade boys & girls. The amazing morning started with both Nia and Mz Shyneka reading the children’s picture book, Disney’s The Lion King as the students followed along with their own personal copy. WOW!! “This was such a meaningful experience for the students. Being able to connect the Lion King movie with the Lion King book and speaking with an actress from the Lion King Broadway show is exactly how we bring books to life for young readers and spark their interest in reading and loving books.” Tiffany Tolbert, Executive Director of Everybody Wins Atlanta. “This meaningful partnership is just be the beginning and we will continue the work to ensure these students are reading at grade level”. Source: Tam D. Photography / Radio One Digital Both Nia and Mz Shyneka are influential Celebrity Godparents for Saving Our Daughters’ Cinderellas Program, which is co-founded by actress, singer and activist, Keke Palmer; as they also encouraged the students why knowing how to read was so important for having a great education at their school and in life. After the readings, Mz Shyneka also had Nia sing a couple of songs for the kids as they were so thrilled! The special story time reading was sponsored by Kilpatrick Townsend LLP. Saving Our Daughters, a 501 c-3 organization which works with girls from multicultural backgrounds through theater, film, culinary and literacy, to help them to overcome the many obstacles they face growing up: bullying (cyber, gossip, face-to-face). Saving Our Daughters creates the tools as celebrity supported art programs, educate girls beyond the borders of a traditional classroom. Source: Tam D. Photography / Radio One Digital Everybody Wins! Atlanta, Founded in 1997, Everybody Wins! Atlanta is a local non-profit organization that pairs elementary school students at risk for academic failure with caring mentors who spend one-on-one time reading with them for thirty minutes each week for an entire school year. The program currently serves low-income public elementary school students in the Cobb, Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Atlanta public school systems, and is funded through grants and corporate and private donations. The organization also offers StoryTime, bringing professional performers, authors and storytellers into schools to use their creative talents to expose children to the world of literacy through action of the written word and audience participation. In 2015, they created a monthly Corporate Reading Day program which brings corporate volunteers to local schools in small group and classroom reading sessions. http://www.everybodywinsatlanta.org Source: Tam D. Photography / Radio One Digital
