Top 10 Reasons
To Buy A Ticket 

10. You won’t have to say how much you loved that rubbery excuse for Coq au vin. 
9. No boring speeches to write. 
8. No boring speeches to sit through! 
7. No squeezing yourself into formal wear that you KNOW fit perfectly only last week.
6. You actually get to stay home, put on your comfiest clothes and sit in front of the fire with your favorite cocktail.
5. You can use the Ball as an excuse to get out of another event.
4. You can dance with your "...plus 1" in your own living room to your favorite song.
3. No having to whisper, "Introduce yourself; I can't remember his/her name!" to your significant other.
2. Your accountant will be happy when 2010 tax time comes around.
1. Along with that warm feeling from your favorite cocktail, you get that tingly feeling knowing that YOU just made a difference! 

Your Virtual Ticket and Table purchases make the following opportunities available to deserving students throughout the Baltimore area:

• 1 Virtual Ticket = Fees for two students to take the Maryland State GED examination
• 2 Virtual Tickets = Costs for one Just For Fun event
• 1 Virtual Table = Equips a classroom with a new personal computer
• 1 Virtual Table = Nine weeks of classroom instruction for one student

• Each purchaser of a Virtual Ticket may list themselves (or their designate) in our Virtual Phantom Ball Program as a valued supporter of Baltimore Reads.
• Each purchaser of a Virtual Table may list the names of up to ten individuals OR the name of one organization in the Virtual Program.
• The Program will be available online here for the public to see beginning in April 2010.
• Instructions explaining how to submit these names are provided to purchasers on the Buy Tickets/Tables page.

Meet Carlos Crescencio, another Baltimore Reads' success story...

Carlos has been in the United States for almost four  years.

He heard about Baltimore Reads’ English As A Second Language (ESL) classes from a friend and has been a student for more than six months (two full sessions).

Carlos said, “I thought it would be too hard, because I didn’t understand much and I was nervous to take the class. Now, I feel good, class is fun; I understand my teacher (Ruth Fox) and my friends in class.

I can speak and understand a lot of English now. I love the school and the class. The teacher is really, really nice. She teaches good and explains to every student.”

Baltimore Reads’ ESL program is fairly new and has been growing since its inception in September 2008. We have expanded the program to off-site locations.

Carlos says, “I feel different, because before I came to class, I only pretended to understand. Now I do. I speak English to my friends and understand what they tell me, too. And I can read now! Too many people do not speak English and don’t have a job. It is important to speak English.”