Debra Atterberry, Osage Nation Strategic Planning and Self-Governance Analyst, reads Pete the Cat to a group of elementary age students at the Barnsdall Library on Monday, Jan. 23, for a Reading is Fun Night sponsored by the Osage Nation. Photo by Cody Hammer, ON Communications

Barnsdall, OK – Debra Atterberry, a former educator, sat down to read a book to a small group of children Monday night in Barnsdall, Okla. The Osage Nation in collaboration with the national non-profit organization, Reach Out Read, sponsored the reading time. The purpose of the program is to educate parents about the importance of reading, talking and singing to their children. Each school district in Osage County is scheduled to have a Reading Fun Night sponsored by the Osage Nation at or near their school at least once during this school year.

Atterberry, Strategic Planning and Self-Governance Analyst for the Osage Nation, has been organizing the Reach Out and Read events and other educator workshops about the program for the past two years. As a former teacher she knows the value of reading at home. She said, "research shows that reading is foundational to success in school and their future."

Currently, all Osage Nation Education departments are participating in Reach Out and Read to promote reading and to give Osage Nation educational staff an opportunity to get out in the public and meet the parents they will be working with in the years to come.

All Reading Fun Nights are free and parents of school age children are encouraged to attend and bring their children. The next event is Thursday, Feb. 9, in Shidler, Okla., at the Ward Elementary School in the "Old Gym".

For more information about the Reach Out and Read program contact the Osage Nation Education Department at (918) 287-5300 or visit them online at www.osagenation-nsn.gov.