Mayor Kevin Johnson announced Tuesday at his weekly press conference that the Third Grade Reading Campaign to bring up Sacramento’s standard reading level will kick off Wednesday with a community resource fair and a press conference.

Sacramento County third grade reading proficiency rates are well below California standards, according to Stand Up, a nonprofit education program that is a featured initiative of Johnson. Statewide, 44 percent of third graders are reading at grade level, while Sacramento County is at 37 percent, based on the 2011 education statistics.

“When we think about Sacramento, our literacy rates are not what they need to be. We have far too many of our children that are not reading at grade level or proficient,” Johnson said. “This is our commitment: We want to be the first city in the country where we achieve literacy for all third graders. It’s big, it’s bold and we’re very excited.”

The Third Grade Reading Campaign will host a fair from 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. Wednesday at the 40 Acres Art Gallery and Courtyard followed by a press conference at 4:30 p.m.

Stand Up’s monthly meeting will be held at the Guild Theater to discuss the campaign.

Johnson said that five superintendents (of Twin Rivers, Roble, Natomas, Sacramento City Unified, and Elk Grove) are going to be a part of the campaign.

“We’re collectively going after it. It will be by 2020, so it’s an eight-, nine-year goal.”

The Education Resource Fair will include free activities such as the Sacramento Petting Zoo and story time to get kids interested in reading.

In a previous announcement, Johnson asked for volunteers to donate their time for tutoring, reading, and other volunteer activities including parent and community involvement to help kids gain and maintain an interest in reading.

Nik Howard, director of strategic partnerships for Stand Up, the mayor's education initiative, the city, said that even though it is a third-grade literacy campaign, the program is available to all children up to age 8.

“The reason that we’re targeting that age range is because kids are transitioning from learning to read in the third grade,” Howard said. “(Children) need to be able to get information on their own by comprehending their reading.”

Howard added that early child development provides a foundation for third grade, and that is why groups like Head Start and First 5 that provide programs designed to encourage and improve healthy living learning, are involved.

He said that up to age 4, the focus needs to be on building early literacy skills, and when children begin kindergarten, they need to be ready for school and ready for the education that will be provided to them.

“All-America City Award criteria for 2012 is going to be (city grade-level reading),” Johnson said. “If we can achieve and come up with a very concrete and comprehensive implementation plan, then Sacramento has an opportunity to be one of 10 cities selected as All-America city based on our commitment to third-grade reading.”

The All-America City Award is awarded to cities that achieve outstanding civic accomplishments through successful efforts to address pressing local challenges.

Howard said one of the most heartening things for him during the beginning stages of the campaign was the feeling of a broad base of support across the community.

“All elements in the communities are working on this, (from) the school districts to city government, and we’ve got local service providers in terms of great reading programs, (such as) Head Start (and) First 5,” Howard added. “This is really a community-wide effort that’s going to have to engage the community at all levels, and so far, they’ve really stepped up.”

Howard said the City Schools Collaborative, a program through the mayor’s office, is trying to bring together schools and city government to streamline and share facilities to do anything to help each other out in making Third Grade Reading campaign a priority.

For more information on the Third Grade Reading Campaign, click here.

Editorial Note: A correction has been made to this article after it was published. The incorrect information has been struck out and the correct information has been added.