Second lady Usha Vance and NASA astronaut Suni Williams championed the Summer Reading Challenge Vance launched earlier this year, at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
“This is really exciting for me, because I love space, and I love NASA, and I can’t believe that I get to hang out with a real astronaut,” said Vance during the Monday afternoon event, which featured a joint reading from the book Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing.
“I think reading helped me do everything that’s happened in my life, from going to college to deciding what countries I wanted to visit or what cities I want to explore, to coming up with my favorite hobbies,” Vance later told the group of children in attendance. “To even having any idea what to do when I had babies and how to take care of them. So, without reading, I would definitely not be here today as a grown-up with two or three great kids or as second lady.”
Vance launched the reading program in early June, challenging children from kindergarten to eighth grade to read 12 books of their choice before Sept. 9 for a certificate and a prize. One child who completes the challenge will get a chance to visit the White House.
The second lady is the mother of three young children and has previously commented on the falling reading rates among school-aged children.
An assessment from the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation’s report card, showed reading and math scores have not rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reading scores among fourth graders were at a low not seen since 2000, and eighth-grade reading scores continued a downward trend with scores lower than in at least 1992.
“Usha Vance is an accomplished attorney, advocate, and mother of three who’s inspiring the next generation through the summer reading challenge,” said Williams as she introduced Vance. “She’s turning pages into possibilities, encouraging young minds across America and beyond to dream big. That’s you guys. Read often and aim high.”
The second lady and Williams also took questions from the young children in attendance. Vance told the crowd that Jupiter was her favorite planet.
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“In fact, in our house, we have a painting that my little boy made when he was five. Jupiter is seen through the asteroid belt,” she said in response to a question from Caroline, a third-grader from Tennessee. “That’s the way that I like to think about it.”
“I would love to go to space. I think it would be the greatest adventure you could have,” Vance also told the audience. “So I’m pretty excited that I get to talk to someone who’s actually done it.”