If accepted to the Family Reading Initiative, each family receives a renewable one-year subscription to your local, daily newspaper.

A household is eligible for participation if each of the following requirements are met:
1. The household is within the distribution area of the daily paper.
2. Children live in the applicant’s home on a full-time basis.
3. The household is not a current newspaper subscriber.
4. Children in the home qualify for the National School Lunch Program.
 

The program includes three extended learning opportunities:

Family Forum: quarterly meetings that engage participants in discussion and build community between Inc families.

Family Forum meetings are a time for families to come together and discuss what they’re reading in their newspaper each day and community issues they deem critical. Adults and children discuss current issues in peer groups to gain a deeper understanding of the issues.

Action Essay Scholarship Program: encourages Inc families to put the knowledge they gain into action. Awards may be used for any education-
related expense.

Inc participants in each program city are eligible to enter in the annual contest, which offers five scholarships totaling $3,250 per city.

Four essay approaches (Print Journalist, Creative, Journal Entry, or Traditional Essay) are available to address the questions provided for each age group. Topics range from the role of the newspaper in the home, to neighborhood issues and voting.

Incwell: Quarterly publication that provides an in-depth look at issues of importance to participants as reflected in Family Forum discussion, and offers writing opportunities for participants.

Incwell offers coverage of topics that impact Inc families on a daily basis, features on participant action and success stories and more.

It also provides civic information, such as lists of public officials, their contact information, public meeting times and locations, and “how-to” items addressing typical civic issues.