This Week's Podcast Guest: Hilderbrand Pelzer III

Award-winning educator Hildebrand Pelzer III joined us today for a discussion of his book, Unlocking Potential: Organizing a School Inside a Prison. This is inspiring book highlights Pelzer's 23 years in the service of Pennsylvania's students, including those often forgotten: incarcerated youth.

When Hildebrand Pelzer III became a teacher after graduating from college, he had no idea that education would become his life's mission. After several years at the School District of Philadelphia, he went on to lead the Penny Pack House School, located in the fifth-largest urban jail system in the United States. There, Pelzer directed the School District of Philadelphia's participation in the prison system and created the Juvenile-Focused Correctional Educational School Model, which has received national accolades and is the standard of success in educating school-age incarcerated youth.

In Unlocking Potential, Hildebrand shares both his passion for his work and his goal of bringing his Model to other prison systems across the nation. He serves as a source of inspiration, not only to America's students and educators, but to all aspiring writers who want to share their message.


To listen to the podcast, click here:

To buy the book or learn more about Hilderbrand Pelzer III's work, visit http://www.hp3-unlockingpotential.com (Also available at Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and Outskirts Press)

Follow Hilderbrand Pelzer III on Twitter: @unlkpotential

Nashville's Notables Come Together for Literacy

The Nashville International Book Festival comes to RiverGate Mall June 3rd through 5th for a weekend of fun and learning. Aimed at encouraging students to read at least two books per week, this event has added a new component.

The New "Celebrity Read Out Loud" will begin Friday the 3rd at 11:00 a.m. with meteorologist Barak Shapiro reading to eager students. Throughout the weekend many of the Nashville's recognized talent will take 30 minutes to read to students grades k-12. Individuals such as Meteorologist Lelan Statom and Kelly Cox, News Anchor Heather Jensen, State Rep Brenda Gilmore and many more will delight young audiences while showing them that reading is fun.

Two stages will be setup through the common areas of the mall. The public is invited and there is no admission. We encourage other community leaders to join us in our quest to boost the reading levels of students and adult that may need assistance in these areas.

Through our R2Books program 1,000 area students will receive a certificate redeemable for one brand new age-appropriate book. Schools, churches and civic organizations who may want to receive certificates for their students should email a request to Takaya@44th.net
Questions about the "Celebrity Read Out Loud" can be directed to Takaya Sweeny at (313) 862-5000 or www.NashvilleInternationalBookFestival.info/celebrityrol