Usha Vance launches summer reading challenge: All about the programme and how can your kids participate in it
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On June 1st, the Second Lady officially launched the 2025 Summer Reading Challenge, a national initiative encouraging students from kindergarten through 8th grade to read 12 books of their choice over the summer. With rewards that include personalized certificates, small prizes, and even a chance to visit Washington, D.C., this challenge is more than just an activity—it's a celebration of literacy aand childhood curiosity.
'Let the Reading Adventures Begin!'
In her warm message to participants, Usha Vance set the tone for a summer filled with stories:
"Adventure, imagination, and discovery await—right between the pages of a book!"
Children have from June 1 to September 5, 2025, to complete the challenge. The rules are simple: pick 12 books, read them independently or with a family member, and record them using the official Reading Log. Once completed, participants are asked to reflect on their favorite book or character—either by writing or drawing—and submit their work along with the signed form.
What makes this challenge extra special? Every child who finishes will receive a personalized certificate and a small prize. Plus, those who submit their completed forms by the deadline will be entered into a nationwide drawing for a trip to the Nation's Capital, accompanied by a parent or guardian.
In an interview about the inspiration behind the initiative, @SLOTUS (the Second Lady of the United States) shared her concerns about the nationwide decline in reading scores and the ongoing issue of summer learning loss—a phenomenon where students forget academic skills over the break.
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Credit: X/@UshaVanceNews
'I'm aware of these kinds of bigger problems—the decline in reading scores, the persistent problem with summer learning loss... So, my goal is to come up with small ways in which I can use my platform to counteract some of those issues,' Vance said.
While she acknowledges that the challenge may not solve everything, she believes it can plant the seeds of a lifelong love of reading, especially for children who might otherwise fall behind during the summer months.
Here's how students can participate
The structure of the challenge is designed to be accessible and engaging. Here's how students can participate:
Step 1: Choose 12 books that excite you—any genre, any author.
Step 2: Record each book in your Reading Log, noting the title, author, and start/finish dates.
Step 3: After completing all 12, reflect on your reading by writing a short note or drawing a picture about your favorite book or character.
Step 4: Have a parent or guardian sign the form and submit everything via email by September 5, 2025.
The challenge is open to all U.S. children in grades K–8, and participation is entirely voluntary. But the rewards—both tangible and emotional—are clear: confidence in literacy, moments of quiet adventure, and a tangible goal to work toward.
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First Post
16-07-2025
- First Post
India and Maga-land: How Delhi can connect to America's conservative heartland
By prioritising genuine, civilisational dialogue over transactional diplomacy, India can build enduring bridges with US' conservative heartland read more India has an unparalleled opportunity to connect deeply with MAGAland by embracing shared cultural values of strength, tradition, and self-reliance. Image: REUTERS When a viral mocked New York legislator Zohran Mamdani for eating with his hands, it revealed a profound cultural disconnect. Mamdani is running to be New York City's next mayor. America's conservative heartland—Make America Great Again (Maga)-land—has woefully misinterpreted one of India's ancient traditions. Mamdani's Ugandan birth further intensified the debate on cultural belonging ( The New York Times). Republicans like Representative Brandon Gill exacerbated the tension, labelling hand-eating 'uncivilised' (NDTV). Defences of Indian customs flooded X, prompting a critical question: how can India effectively engage Maga-land? STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD India has a unique opportunity to bridge this gap through Vice President JD Vance and his wife, , an Indian-American. Unlike Pakistan, whose outreach is limited by resentment among Global War on Terror veterans ( CFR). A resentment that stretches to most of President Donald Trump's cabinet, who see Pakistan as a necessary evil; India is free from such baggage. Leveraging shared values—strength, faith, and self-reliance—India can resonate deeply with Maga-land. The Cultural Flashpoint Eating with hands in India is a traditional ritual tied to Ayurveda, symbolising connection and simplicity ( Ayurveda). Conversely, Maga-land—a coalition of rural, blue-collar, and faith-driven communities—now seems to view this practice negatively. JD and Usha Vance, with their visible celebration of Indian culture, provide a bridge, showcasing harmony between tradition and modernity. 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JD and Usha Vance as Cultural Ambassadors JD Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy, embodies Maga-land's spirit—a journey from poverty to success through resilience and determination. Usha Vance, a Hindu Indian-American and former Supreme Court clerk, complements him, openly integrating her heritage into public life. Their interfaith marriage exemplifies cultural fusion, resonating deeply with conservative America's respect for tradition ( BBC). STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Strategically, JD Vance's stance on stronger India-US relations to counter China's influence aligns with Maga-land's scepticism of Beijing. This political alignment provides India with an ideal partner to advance mutual interests, leveraging cultural and strategic affinities. Strengthening Military and Strategic Ties India's representatives now regularly participate in strategic dialogues at the Pentagon, signalling closer alignment between Indian defence officials and their American counterparts. This increasing military-to-military engagement reflects India's growing prominence within US strategic thinking. The US military, which significantly outstrips the State Department in terms of influence and resources, is now a key partner in India-US relations. These frequent exchanges foster deeper personal and professional relationships. When Indian and American personnel live and work together, these interactions create 'living bridges', enhancing mutual understanding. As Maga-land evolves, exposure to these sustained exchanges could shift conservative perceptions, potentially fostering deeper respect and appreciation for Indian traditions and strategic perspectives. Conclusion: Embracing Civilisation over Transaction India has an unparalleled opportunity to connect deeply with Maga-land by embracing shared cultural values of strength, tradition, and self-reliance. JD and Usha Vance are powerful conduits, embodying this fusion of cultures. Enhanced strategic dialogues and military cooperation further cement this relationship, providing fertile ground for cultural exchange. Strategic engagement with conservative American communities can ensure India's voice resonates beyond elite circles in New York and Washington, DC, deeply embedding itself into Maga-land's cultural and political fabric. By prioritising genuine, civilisational dialogue over transactional diplomacy, India can build enduring bridges with America's conservative heartland. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The author is a strategist in international relations and economic development. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
Indian Express
28-06-2025
- Indian Express
Usha Vance's new life in Trump's Washington
She has settled her three children into new schools, set up play dates and overseen the childproofing of her 9,000-square-foot home. She takes the children to the second lady's office overlooking the Washington Monument, attends Mass with her family in the Virginia suburbs and hikes on wooded trails around Washington, the Secret Service in tow. She has a warm relationship with the president of the United States, who marvels over her academic credentials and tells her she is beautiful, a senior administration official said. She gets along with Melania Trump, the first lady, too. Less than a year ago, Usha Vance, onetime Democrat and the daughter of immigrants, was living a radically different life as a litigator for a progressive law firm while raising her children in Ohio. Many old friends are bewildered by her transformation. She may be the wife of the vice president, they say, but she must be appalled by the Trump administration's attacks on academia, law firms, judges, diversity programs and immigrants. Others say she likes the respite from her legal career and the glamour and influence of her new role. (Vance, who clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts and was a top editor on The Yale Law Journal, referred to herself at a recent public appearance as a 'former lawyer.') She always supported her husband's ambitions, they note, even if she did not necessarily share them. People close to the vice president, who went from being a vocal critic of now-President Donald Trump to his running mate, argue that Vance went on a similar but less public journey that soured her on the left. Either way, colleagues say, she is a model, at least for now, of a movement embraced by the White House and pushed by her husband that encourages women to have more children and celebrate the family as the centerpiece of American life. 'I think she's doing a great job as second lady of the United States,' Vice President JD Vance said in March in Bay City, Michigan, with Usha Vance standing behind him. 'And here's the thing: Because the cameras are all on, anything that I say, no matter how crazy, Usha has to smile and laugh and celebrate it.' Online critics slammed the vice president for sexism. But those who know the couple say that no matter her silence in public, JD Vance leans on his wife's counsel in private. 'Her influence on her husband is incalculable,' said the senior Trump administration official, who has worked with Usha Vance on and off for the past year and asked not to be named in order to speak freely. The official described the second lady as someone who has 'well considered' opinions on marriage, politics and faith, but holds herself at reserve. If Vance, 39, is not happy with all aspects of the Trump White House, friends say she would never let on. 'Her history and her upbringing suggest it,' the administration official said, 'but she's married to JD, and at some point you have to accept it.' The Vances have babysitters but no live-in nanny, and JD Vance leaves the West Wing many early evenings to have dinner with his family and help put the children to bed. The Vances have also taken their three children, now 8, 5 and 3, on official international trips, including to Good Friday services at the Vatican and to dinner in New Delhi with the prime minister of India. Vance declined to be interviewed for this article, as did a large number of relatives, friends and colleagues. More than a dozen who did offer their perspectives did so on the condition of anonymity out of fear of angering her. Only recently has she tiptoed out on her own and offered a glimpse of herself and the purpose she sees in her new role. On June 1, she announced on social platform X the 'Second Lady's 2025 Summer Reading Challenge' for children, driven by her view that reading is an antidote to modern distractions, including her own. From the start, back when they first met at Yale Law School, Usha Vance has been her husband's guide to the elite and a cool salve for his hot temper. One friend of the couple said he would not be vice president without her. 'I'm one of those guys who really benefits from having sort of a powerful female voice over his left shoulder saying, 'Don't do that, do that,'' JD Vance told Megyn Kelly in 2020. For a long time it was his grandmother, Mamaw. 'Now it's Usha,' he said. Unlike JD Vance, whose roots are in a dysfunctional family of the white underclass captured in his bestselling memoir, 'Hillbilly Elegy,' Usha Vance is the eldest of two daughters of accomplished Indian immigrants, Krish and Lakshmi Chilukuri. They arrived in California in the early 1980s. The Chilukuris settled in Rancho Peñasquitos, a planned San Diego neighborhood, where their home today is worth $1.4 million. Vance's father, Krish, worked as an aerospace engineer at United Technologies and Collins Aerospace for 30 years and is now a lecturer at San Diego State. Lakshmi, Vance's mother, is a molecular biologist and the provost of Sixth College, an undergraduate school at the University of California, San Diego. Vance blazed her way through the local Mount Carmel High School, Yale College, a teaching fellowship in China and a prestigious Gates Foundation scholarship at the University of Cambridge in Britain. She wrote in the Gates scholars' yearbook that her interests were 'exploring urban neighborhoods, cooking & green markets, long walks, panicking about law school.' Whatever worries she may have had, friends describe her as a picture of confidence when she was back at Yale in 2010 to start law school. She and JD Vance were soon assigned as partners on a major writing assignment. He was awestruck. 'She seemed some sort of genetic anomaly, a combination of every positive quality a human being should have: bright, hardworking, tall and beautiful,' he wrote in a widely quoted passage in 'Hillbilly Elegy.' The feeling was not mutual at first. 'I think it's fair to say that JD was sort of the pedal in the relationship and I was a little bit of the brakes,' she told the crowd at the U.S.-India forum this month. 'Because I was sort of focused on the schooling part of it.' The two were married in 2014 in an outdoor wedding in Kentucky, near JD Vance's hometown, and spent the next decade crisscrossing the country. Along the way, Usha Vance gave birth to Ewan in 2017, Vivek in 2020 and Mirabel in 2021. Vance clerked for Judge Brett Kavanaugh in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Chief Justice Roberts, and worked for the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson in San Francisco and Washington. JD Vance became a partner in a venture capital fund co-founded by Peter Thiel, a Silicon Valley billionaire and major Trump supporter. In 2017, the couple moved to Cincinnati, where Usha Vance worked remotely for Munger. The couple bought a big $1.4 million Victorian in East Walnut Hills, a liberal-leaning neighborhood. Vance joined the board of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and put Post-it notes on wine bottles to remind her husband which were the good ones to use for guests. A pivotal moment for Usha Vance came in 2018, when Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh, by then a Supreme Court nominee, of sexually assaulting her at a high school party nearly 40 years earlier. Kavanaugh denied the accusation and was narrowly confirmed, but friends say that Vance was outraged by Democratic attacks on a man she admired. 'My wife worked for Kavanaugh, loved the guy — kind of a dork,' JD Vance told New York Times columnist Ross Douthat last year. 'Never believed these stories.' When Vance became Trump's running mate in the summer of 2024, Usha Vance quit her job at Munger and threw herself into the vice presidential campaign. She and the children were often on the trail with him, and colleagues say she was a key part of the preparations for his debate with Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota. Usha Vance has largely stayed out of the fray over the administration's political and policy agenda, even as her husband has continued to be a polarizing figure. The one exception for Usha Vance was in March when she planned a trip to see a national dog sled race in Greenland, which Trump has said he wants to take over from Denmark. Vance made a cheerful video ahead of the trip, but it was ultimately downsized to a brief stop with her husband at a U.S. military base after strong objections from Greenlanders. In the coming months, Vance says she will continue to roll out second lady projects. For now, she continues to take her children to her office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the one with the view of the Washington Monument.
NDTV
28-06-2025
- NDTV
JD Vance's Wife Got To Know Of His Veep Nomination 5 Minutes Before Public
Usha Vance, wife of JD Vance and Second Lady of the United States, has revealed she learned of her husband's vice-presidential nomination just 'five minutes' before it became public. 'It really was like a bolt of lightning. You don't have an opportunity to think about it, or even to plan what it is that you'd like to do,' Usha, who is of Indian-origin, said in a podcast with US author Meghan McCain. Usha Vance also faced questions about her role as the US Second Lady and the pressure of being the first woman of South Asian descent to be in that position. 'Maybe we've just sort of moved beyond trying to count firsts of everything. I'm not sure, except when older Indian people kind of give me that look,' Usha said. She also touched upon how her life changed since JD Vance became the Vice President. Usha said, 'People call you ma'am. No one's ever called me ma'am before this.' It was such a privilege to be able to sit down with our incredible @SLOTUS Usha Vance for her first long form on camera interview. She is already iconic and I loved getting to know her more personal side. If you haven't already watched, here it is! — Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) June 26, 2025 In July 2024, months ahead of the November presidential elections, Donald Trump announced 39-year-old JD Vance as his running mate. The announcement came on the first day of the Republican Party convention in Milwaukee. A former venture capitalist and an author from Ohio, JD Vance was once a strong critic of Trump, and was known for calling him 'America's Hitler' and an 'idiot' after the 2016 election. Much has changed since then. JD Vance turned into one of the most loyal supporters of Trump. He had even appeared in court to back Trump during his hush money trial. Vance is a graduate of Yale Law School and a US Marine veteran. Since Trump won the November 5 election, Vance's family has also been in the spotlight. Much of the attention has focused on Usha's Indian origins. Born in San Diego County, California, Usha is the daughter of Telugu immigrant parents. Usha's father is a mechanical engineer, and her mother is a molecular biologist from Andhra Pradesh. She has a BA degree in history from Yale University and an MPhil in early modern history at Cambridge. In 2010, while at Yale Law School, she met JD Vance and the couple wed in Kentucky in 2014. They have three children: two sons, Ewan and Vivek, and a daughter, Mirabel.
