Jane Hileman is a literacy activist and serves as CEO of American Reading Company. Ms. Hileman founded this organization to help educators learn the power of using independent reading to drive both instruction and assessment.

Ms. Hileman spent ten years teaching in inner city Philadelphia, nine years teaching at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education, three years as a Reading Specialist is suburban Philadelphia, four years as Staff Developer for the School District of Philadelphia, and three years as the Associate Director of Philadelphia Reads. Ms. Hileman currently serves as a member of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Steering Committee, serves on the Board of Philadelphia's Multicultural Resource Center, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Philadelphia School Notebook.

The American Reading Company has grown from a few passionate teachers working from our dining room table ten years ago, to a group of over 100 determined people working out of a warehouse in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

The team at American Reading Company embraces 100 Book Challenge not just for schools but for its own employees, some of which are learning English as a second language. Every day at 2:00, employees participating in 100 Book Challenge convene in the kitchen or outside or in an empty office to practice reading for 15 minutes. Employee coaches volunteer to provide tips and encouragement to their fellow employees, who are reading at levels ranging from Two-Green to Orange. Just as the program is implemented in schools, readers maintain log sheets that are signed by coaches each day. Both readers and coaches are recognized at company meetings and earn paid time off for every 25 hours logged in reading practice.

“I like it because I learn more English and have fun. I learn more and more. Even my son's getting better because every day I go home and I read to my son. He's getting better and better.”

3 Buses, 2 Hours, 1 Goal
For the past two years, Tech Walker has woken up Monday through Friday at 5:30AM, caught the R bus, switched to the 125 bus, and again transferred to the 95 bus to get to his job at American Reading Company in King of Prussia, PA by 7:30AM. Jobs are hard to come by in his North Philadelphia neighborhood, so when Tech heard about American Reading Company from his brother, Devon, he jumped at the opportunity. Click here for the full story.