March is Reading Month. It is a time we set aside each year to highlight the importance of reading and its role in helping people lead successful lives. This month, thousands of students in southwest Michigan and throughout our state will participate in events to mark the occasion. I am fortunate to be able to visit with many of our schoolchildren this month to read with them in their classrooms.

As a former teacher, I am excited to share my love of reading with students and to encourage them to read. Developing reading as a skill and promoting it as a fun habit serves to help our school kids to not only read, but to achieve. Being a successful reader is critical to a child’s development. It opens their minds to a world of imagination and possibility and to future success.

I have worked hard during my time as a legislator to support and invest in early childhood literacy programs and to help ensure all of Michigan’s students are proficient readers by third grade — a critical metric that can quite literally determine a person’s future. Data suggest those third graders who cannot read are four times more likely not to graduate high school, and that can lead to even more difficulty as an adult in terms of keeping a job and earning a living.

I hope you and your family will join in celebrating the joy of reading this month. It could make a world of difference in the life of a child you love.

Kim LaSata, R, represents the 21st District, which includes Berrien, Cass and St. Joseph counties. She can be reached at (517) 373-6960 or SenKLaSata@senate.michigan.gov