Early in his first term, Mayor Peyton implemented RALLY Jacksonville!, a communitywide early literacy initiative. RALLY Jacksonville! reaches out to local children one year before they enter kindergarten and provides them with the pre-literacy skills they need to read and succeed when they enter school.

To date, RALLY!'s approach is successfully:

• Making literacy and reading core values through:
  
  
  • Mayor Peyton’s Book Club
    
  • Through Mayor Peyton’s Book Club, all 4-year-old Duval County pre-kindergarteners are eligible to receive a reusable tote bag filled with fun reading tools and a series of Jacksonville-themed books.  Now in its fifth year, more than 42,000 4-year-olds have joined the club.
  • This year the Book Club received a “green” facelift with the addition of the Great Outdoor Adventure.  In addition to the original 11 books and literacy tools provided to Book Club members, new members will now receive a twelfth book entitled "We're Going Green."  New members are eligible to participate in a monthly schedule of events, activities, educational programming, books and story times hosted by the Recreation and Community Services Department and the Jacksonville Public Library.  In lieu of the signature backpack, new members will now receive their learning tools in a reusable tote sponsored by JM Family/Southeast Toyota.  The tote may be used in a variety of ways (for example, grocery trips, family outings or as an overnight bag) to help teach children about the importance of reusable materials.
    
    
  • RALLY Champions!
    The RALLY Champions! program matches a group or organization to a neighborhood childcare center. The team of volunteers numbers approximately 200 and regularly reads and builds relationships with the children, the center and the community.
    
    
  • RALLY Book Drive!
    To date, more than one million books have been collected and distributed to Jacksonville children.
    
    
• Shifting childcare centers from providing custodial care to offering quality early education to prepare children for school, including:
  
• Early Learning Teams:  Teams of literacy experts travel to child care centers helping directors and staff improve their curriculum and methods, focusing on each center's unique challenges.
• Quality Rating and Improvement System: The Early Learning Coalition of Duval implements the Guiding Stars rating system for child care centers making it easier for parents to identify and compare school-readiness sites.
  
  

For more information about RALLY Jacksonville! or to join the Mayor’s Book Club, visit the Jacksonville Children's Commission section of this Web site by clicking here.