United Way of New York City, in partnership with CHASE, Announces “March United for Public Schools” for Sunday, October 13th

United Way of New York City announces the “March United for Public Schools,” a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to celebrate public education and our dedicated teachers and talented students. The March will start at 9 a.m., beginning at Foley Square, and will continue across the Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn Borough Hall. 

The March will also serve as a fundraiser supporting United Way of New York City’s programmatic work with the New York City Department of Education including ReadNYC, an initiative started in Mott Haven to improve early-grade reading, and EducateNYC, which supports the NYC Community Schools Initiative. 

“This march is a call to all New Yorkers to support our city’s students and teachers,” said Sheena Wright, President and CEO, UWNYC. “I am so grateful for the enthusiasm we are already seeing from not only our partners and sponsors, but from New Yorkers across the city as well. United Way of New York City invites all New Yorkers to come join us on October 13th as we march to support our public schools.”

This celebratory march kicks off with a VIP invite only breakfast honoring teachers at the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) NYC headquarters and concludes with an open-to-the-general-public K-12 family festival with student performers, bands, cheerleaders and choirs. 

The “Future Festival” will feature a curated art tent showcasing the best art submitted and judged by a prominent committee and an arts and crafts zone where kids may make their own. The story time tent presented by Scholastic, the Age of Learning, and Amazon will feature children’s authors reading throughout the day. Featured readers will include TODAY’s Willie Geist. The Future Festival will also showcase a pop-up shopping village, presented by CHASE and Essence Magazine, featuring small, local, women, minority and veteran-owned businesses. The festival is from 9 a.m.-2 p.m., free and open to the general public.

Age of Learning, the creator of ABCmouse.com Early Learning Academy, the leading digital learning program for children ages 2-8, is partnering with UWNYC to support NYC students and teachers and will be on site demonstrating how ABCmouse’s research-validated curriculum engages and educates young learners.

“We share United Way of New York City’s commitment to fundamentally improving early reading skills by effectively supporting students, families, and teachers,” said Doug Dohring, founder and Executive Chairman of Age of Learning. “Expanding on the thousands of classroom teachers and tens of thousands of families in New York City that are currently using ABCmouse and ReadingIQ, we are excited to grow our partnership with the United Way to help more young students build a strong foundation for academic success.”

The festival will include special performances by: 10-year-old DJ Annie Red, 12-year-old Drag Kid “Desmond is Amazing”, Coney Island’s teen rapper Lil Dee, LaGuardia High School Show Choir, LaGuardia High School Jazz Band, Brooklyn School of the Arts Creative Artist Ensemble, Brooklyn Tech’s Organized CHAOS, Brooklyn Tech’s Lady Dragon Steppers, The Big Apple Circus, Rock Bands for Kids, Dancing Classrooms Youth Dance Company. Panel discussions and VIP interviews led by 13-year-old Scholastic Kids Press reporter Amelia Poor will take place on the main stage. Come meet PwC’s Code-E the Robot and join 12-year-old “Chelsea Chats” talking Currency Conversations with her mom and grandmother. Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures Dental Van will provide free dental education, screenings and treatment referrals to children up to 12 years old.

CURRENT SPONSORS AND PARTNERS: CHASE, ABCmouse, Amazon, Scholastic, PwC, Colgate, TemPositions, Wegmans, Girl Scouts of Greater New York, The Children's Book Council, The Big Apple Circus, Rock Bands for Kids, Dancing Classrooms, Essence Magazine, Romper (Bustle Media), Cool Mom Picks, The New York Giants, The Brooklyn Borough President’s office, , and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). 

Participating vendors include:  Alchemy Body Shop, Amanne Collection, Backyard Bees, Beberavi, Blossom Ice Cream, Brooklyn Tea, Cee Cee's Closet, Chloe + Chad, Da Spot NYC, eLo, Grace Eleyae Designs, Jam + Rico, JDiza Clothing, JPennard Designs, LukaFit, Mr. Corey's Cookies, NOM WAH Dim Sum, NRODA, PALS Socks, Perry Boyce Candles, Pooka Pure and Simple, Sarep + Rose, Seville Michelle Jewelry, Shancha Inc, The Market Place, Tipsy Tags, TROOTS, Worldwide Buddies

For more information on how interested individuals and companies can join in marching, starting a fundraising team within their organization, performing at the festival, or becoming a sponsor,  email [email protected]. Everyone is invited to march with no fundraising minimum. Key person interviews available in advance or on-site day of event.

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About United Way of New York City:

United Way of New York City (UWNYC) fights for the self-sufficiency of every low-income New Yorker by taking on the toughest challenges and creating new solutions to old problems. We win by helping families shift from barely surviving to thriving. We unite by mobilizing the best ideas, relevant data, internal and external experts, and resources—from money to manpower. UWNYC maximizes impact by coordinating and aligning organizations, companies, local government, and New Yorkers to help families eliminate tough choices and live better while making ends meet. To learn more, visit: www.unitedwaynyc.org.

About Chase:

Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.7 trillion and operations worldwide. Chase serves nearly half of America’s households with a broad range of financial services, including personal banking, credit cards, mortgages, auto financing, investment advice, small business loans and payment processing. Customers can choose how and where they want to bank: Nearly 5,000 branches in 28 states and the District of Columbia, 16,000 ATMs, mobile, online and by phone. For more information, go to chase.com.

About Age of Learning, Inc.:

Age of Learning^® is a leading education technology innovator, creating engaging and effective learning resources to help children build a strong foundation for academic success. Age of Learning’s flagship product in the U.S., ABCmouse.com® Early Learning Academy, is a comprehensive, research-validated curriculum for preschool through second grade, available on all major digital platforms and used by millions of children. Age of Learning’s ReadingIQ™ is a digital library and literacy platform for children 12 and under designed by reading experts to improve literacy skills, with many thousands of expert-curated books from leading publishers. Most recently, the company launched Adventure Academy™ the first AAA educational massively multiplayer online game (MMO), serving elementary- and middle-school-aged children with thousands of learning activities in a fun and safe virtual world. Connect with Age of Learning at www.AgeofLearning.com or on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.

About Amazon:

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

About Scholastic:

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, a leading provider of core literacy curriculum and professional services, and a producer of educational and entertaining children’s media. The Company creates quality books and ebooks, print and technology-based learning programs for pre-K to grade 12, classroom magazines and other products and services that support children’s learning and literacy both in school and at home. With operations in 14 international offices and exports to 165 countries, Scholastic makes quality, affordable books available to all children around the world through school-based book clubs and book fairs, classroom collections, school and public libraries, retail and online. True to its mission of 98 years to encourage the personal and intellectual growth of all children beginning with literacy, the Company has earned a reputation as a trusted partner to educators and families. Learn more at www.scholastic.com.

About PwC:

At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. We’re a network of firms in 158 countries with more than 250,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory and tax services. Find out more and tell us what matters to you by visiting us at www.pwc.com. PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.

About The UFT:

The UFT, which represents nearly 200,000 members, is the sole bargaining agent for most of the non-supervisory educators who work in the New York City public schools. We represent approximately 75,000 teachers and 19,000 classroom paraprofessionals, along with school secretaries, attendance teachers, school counselors, psychologists, social workers, adult education teachers, administrative law judges, nurses, laboratory technicians, speech therapists, family childcare providers and 64,000 retired members. We also represent teachers and other employees at a number of private educational institutions and some charter schools. www.UFT.org