Ex-Pomona schools chief attends literacy event

Former Pomona Unified School District Superintendent Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana was in Alexandria, Va., Friday participating in a U.S. Department of Education literacy event that included several members of the Obama administration.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and Melendez de Santa Ana, assistant secretary of education responsible for elementary and secondary education, participated in the "Read to the Top" summer literacy initiative event.

The event was the last in a series that included the participation of more than a dozen cabinet members, according to a statement from the Department of Education.

Through "Read to the Top" the Department of Education partnered with community organization to work with young people so they could maintain their reading skills during the summer and be better prepared to continue their studies in the fall.

For volunteers with community organizations the initiative was a way of responding to President Barack Obama's call for people to participate in meaningful service projects that  help meet the social needs resulting from the economic downturn, the statement said.

The bilingual reading event took place at the Mount Vernon Community School.

The school's year-round calendar gives students additional time for reading and also offers a voluntary Spanish immersion program, the statement said.