The Read-In program -- connecting employees with local classrooms to read illuminating non-fiction during Black History Month -- has been expanding for several years based on popular demand. A luncheon Monday celebrated the efforts of the 57 volunteers who participated in this year's program, teaching local schoolchildren how a 6-year-old girl helped lead the way to school integration in the South of the early 1960s.

"The mission of the program is to make the celebration of African-American literacy a traditional part of Black History Month in the communities in which we live and work," said a Corning employee who read to children in four schools.

Schools find the program is playing a valuable role in local education. The Corning-Painted Post school district director of pupil personnel services and coordinator of the program, said that teachers probably talked more about Valentine's Day in February than Black History Month. The visit from Corning employees was likely the only Black History Month lesson taught in the schools, she said.