A Lee County judge will visit St. Anne Catholic School in Dixon on Feb. 12 as part of a statewide program aimed at boosting early literacy.

Lee County Circuit Judge Jacquelyn D. Ackert is among many judges participating in the Illinois Judges Association’s reading program “Judges go to School Day.” On the day of former President Abraham Lincoln‘s birthday, Ackert will read “Abe Lincoln’s Hat” by Martha Brenner, a children’s book about his habit of storing letters and court notes inside his trademark top hat, to St. Anne students.

The program, targeting students in grades kindergarten to fourth, was created in response to surveys by the Annie E. Casey Foundation that found a significant number of fourth grade, low-income students can’t read at grade level and that students who are proficient readers by the end of third grade are more likely to graduate from high school, according to a news release from the IJA.

“Too many school children are not reading at grade level. This reading deficiency affects student learning and contributes to the high school dropout rate,” Illinois Appellate Court Justice, D-2, Mary Schostok, also the former IJA president, said in the release.

St. Anne will receive a copy of the book for its library. The IJA funded the books through a grant from the Illinois Judges Foundation.

“Our reading project is one small step which we hope will inspire young students to appreciate the value of books as they learn a little about history and our system of justice directly from a sitting judge,” Schostok said.

The program is the latest of many community programs undertaken by the IJA that have targeted things such as drinking and driving, the dangers of using drugs and cyber bullying, among others.

The IJA is a membership organization of 1,250 active and retired judges. Its purpose is to foster public confidence in the independence of the justice system, provide services and education to its members and information about court operations to the public.