Audible Begins Historic Distribution of Tablets and Audiobooks to Newark Public School Students

Posted on

2,000 East Side High School Students are 2nd Installment of 15,000 Distribution

Audible Founder Don Katz, Superintendent Robert Gregory, Mayor Ras J. Baraka Speak

 

Newark NJ – February23, 2018 – Audible Inc., the world’s largest seller and producer of digital spoken-word entertainment, is giving all ~15,000 Newark high school students and teachers a year of Audible membership, including 12 credits to download and own any of the 400,000+ titles in Audible’s unparalleled library of digital audiobooks and other educational programming. On Thursday, Audible hosted an event at East Side High School to distribute tablets and Audible memberships to ~2,000 students, with remarks by Audible Founder and CEO Don Katz, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Interim NPS Superintendent A. Robert Gregory, and East Side High School Principal Dr. Mario Santos.

The effort honors Newark and its students’ transformational impact on Audible, as the company marks the 20th anniversary of its digital service and its 10th anniversary in Newark.

The Audible “Project Listen Up!” initiative, launched in late November with an event at Technology High School, has expanded in 2018 with distribution events at district and public charter high schools across Newark. The initiative provides all participants with an enhanced Audible membership experience that includes a free bundle of 150+ “recommended reading” titles identified by Newark educators and Audible experts. Audible is also collaborating with NPS to incorporate spoken-word content into the district’s curriculum. To make use of the free Audible memberships, each Newark student and teacher will receive a free Amazon Fire 7-inch 8GB tablet with Alexa and headphones. Students and teachers will keep the content, tablets, and headphones even after their free membership ends.

Interim Superintendent Robert Gregory said, “This is an extraordinary time for Newark Public School students and for the City of Newark.” This transformational gift puts education at the fingertips of our students, and puts them a step closer to having the tools to succeed in this global economy.”

Among the scientifically verified benefits of the power of listening to literature for developing readers are:

  • Audiobooks teach critical listening, increase vocabulary, and build foundational skills for listening, speaking, and writing.
  • Learning to listen at a high level is a predictor of learning to read at a high level.
  • Listening has been shown to improve students’ enjoyment of and interest in literature.
  • Listening significantly helps struggling readers to better understand text, helping them learn more effectively and lifting their reading comprehension.

Audible experts will be available throughout the distribution process to provide “white glove” support to all students and teachers in activating their memberships and accessing their free content, and to make recommendations.

Audible Listen UpFor more information on Audible’s “Project Listen Up,” please visit www.audible.com/projectlistenup.