It isn’t often enough that we publicly appreciate our teachers and educators. While he is mainly an actor, having performed in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Roots, LeVar Burton played the role of a reader and an educator for many years on Reading Rainbow.
Now, he will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition for his collective work at the first-time Children’s and Family Emmys.
LeVar Burton started on Reading Rainbow in 1983 where he read books, conducted interviews, and explained current events to children understandably and kindly. The show continued for 23 years and won 12 Daytime Emmys and a Peabody Award.
Reading Rainbow was canceled in 2006, but Burton continued his mission of education through his company RRKidz and launched the Reading Rainbow app. He also tried to bring the show Reading Rainbow back with a Kickstarter campaign. The campaign “Bring Back Reading Rainbow,” exceeded its initial goal of $1 million and raised more than $5 million.
After a licensing disagreement with WNED, who originally hosted the PBS show, Reading Rainbow will reappear as “Reading Rainbow Live” and continue the mission of educating children. Burton also hosted Jeopardy after the death of the longtime host, Alek Trebek. Burton will also be hosting the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee in June.
He will receive his Lifetime Achievement Award at the first Children’s and Family Emmys in December.
