Thorndike Press Partners with Beanstack and Mark Cuban to Sponsor 'Level Up' National K-12 Summer 2021 Reading Challenge

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. and WASHINGTON, March 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Thorndike Press from Gale, a Cengage company, has teamed up with Beanstack and Mark Cuban to bring schools a national K-12 summer reading challenge, 'Level Up.' The challenge was designed to lessen the impact of summer slide and keep students engaged and reading all summer long. Schools can win cash prizes, book collections or a virtual visit from Newbery award-winning author, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. The challenge is free, but schools must register to participate. It will run June 1, 2021 through July 15, 2021.

"We recognize the impact of COVID and remote learning on student literacy and want to give educators a turnkey way to support young readers," said Felix Lloyd, Zoobean Co-Founder. "The Level Up reading challenge is a great way to keep students motivated, engaged and reading throughout the summer and we are excited to partner with Thorndike and Mark Cuban who share our vision and commitment to helping students achieve their reading goals."

Students can choose to read books from any genre or format to participate. Large print books will be among the formats featured in the challenge, which studies show improve reading speed, boost reading comprehension and work especially well with readers who are below their grade level.

In order for books read to count toward the challenge, readers must track their reading progress using the Beanstack app. Students can access the app via web or mobile to log their reading, earn virtual badges, track stats, engage with friends and discover their next favorite book. Additionally, parents can download the app and link directly to their child's school.

"Schools and parents are always searching for ways to better engage with students during the summer," said Mark Cuban, billionaire investor and Shark Tank personality. "The Level Up reading challenge is a great way to keep students reading, even when they're not in the classroom."

Winning schools will be determined by the most amount of time their students spent reading. Cash prizes are being provided by Mark Cuban with Thorndike Press awarding prize packs of large print book collections to winning schools as well as a virtual visit from Newbery award-winning author Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.

Prizes include:

• Grand Prize: $5,000 and $1,000 of large print books and a virtual author chat with the school.
• Second Place: $2,500 and $500 of large print books.
• Four (4) Runner Ups: $2,500 and $250 of large print books.

"During the summer, many students lose up to two months of learning, and with the disruption COVID has caused, reading programs are even more critical," said Paul Gazzolo, senior vice president and general manager at Gale. "Public libraries have seen great success in retaining and building literacy skills through summer reading programs. The Level Up challenge gives schools an amazing opportunity to support student literacy this summer and we are thrilled to partner with Beanstack and Mark Cuban to make it happen."

Gale and Beanstack will host a live webinar on the Level Up Summer 2021 Reading Challenge on Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 3pm ET/12pm PT. To register, visit the webinar registration page.

For more information about the 2021 Level Up Summer Reading Challenge, visit the challenge webpage.

About Zoobean
Zoobean, Inc. is the creator of apps and retail products that help people achieve reading goals by tracking reading and participating in reading challenges. The company's flagship product, Beanstack, helps public libraries and school districts create, manage and measure reading challenges. A sister product, Beanbright, offers school buildings a free, streamlined, out-of-the-box version of the reading challenge service. Most recently, the company has introduced Badge Books, which are sticker books that work hand in hand with the free Beanstack mobile app. Zoobean's investors include Kapor Capital, Mark Cuban, RevUp Capital, the AT&T Aspire Accelerator, and Amazon's Alexa Fund. Its founders were previously Washington D.C.'s teacher of the year and Google's first head of K-12 education outreach.

About Thorndike Press
As the leading large print publisher, Thorndike Press from Gale, a Cengage company, helps readers of all ages enjoy books. Publishing unabridged reprints in large print format for middle grade and young adult readers started in 1999 and our catalog of more than 600 titles grows monthly with high-interest fiction and nonfiction books, including contemporary classics, award-winners and bestsellers. Our commitment to producing high quality, 100% guaranteed large print books supports young readers as they develop the skills necessary to become successful, confident, lifelong readers.

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About Cengage and Gale
Cengage, an education technology company serving millions of learners in 165 countries, advances the way students learn through quality, digital experiences. The company currently serves the K-12, higher education, professional, library, English language teaching and workforce training markets worldwide. Gale, a Cengage company, provides libraries with original and curated content, as well as the modern research tools and technology that are crucial in connecting libraries to learning, and learners to libraries. For more than 60 years, Gale has partnered with libraries around the world to empower the discovery of knowledge and insights – where, when and how people need it. Gale has 500 employees globally with its main operations in Farmington Hills, Michigan. For more information, please visit www.gale.com.

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Media Contact:
Kayla Siefker, Gale, a Cengage company
248-915-9624
[email protected]

SOURCE Gale, a Cengage company