CHARLESTON, W.Va. – For 20 years, Appalachian Power employees have celebrated Read to Me Day by sharing a special read aloud book with students in elementary schools across West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee. It is an Appalachian Power tradition.
Appalachian Power's Vice President of Distribution Aaron Walker read this year's Read to Me Day book selection, Someone Builds the Dream, by Lisa Wheeler
This year, the company has selected the book, Someone Builds the Dream, by Lisa Wheeler, for the program. The book, read by Aaron Walker, Appalachian Power vice president distribution, was added to the company’s read-aloud collection of 21 videos on YouTube, and donated to each school library.
The YouTube video playlist was provided exclusively to all 450-plus elementary schools in the company’s West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee service territory for educational use.
“Read to Me Day is a way that we can show every school we serve that we value education and support what they do,” said Chris Beam, Appalachian Power president and a volunteer reader. “We are looking forward to the day when we can visit our local schools and read in-person, but our YouTube playlist has been well received and allows educators the ability to access the reading of great read-aloud stories year-round.”
Appalachian Power started participating in Read to Me Day in 2001 and estimates that it has read to 280,000 students and donated about 7,500 books since then.