(From L to R) A family enjoys books & pumpkins during a trip to the pumpkin patch. Families celebrate at the "Fatherhood chili feed" RIF Distribution.
The Goldenrod Hills Head Start RIF program in Wisner, Neb. embodies the vision of its umbrella organization, Goldenrod Hills Community Action, Inc., by helping to create “strong family foundations built through education, empowerment, and support.”
At the beginning of each year, RIF volunteers, who oversee 16 sites and approximately 443 children, send out family interest sheets and fatherhood surveys to the homes of their students. After compiling the parents’ feedback they make a list of the most popular options for possible themes. The parents vote on the themes and the top three become the basis of the program’s RIF book distributions.
The data volunteers collect also includes what talents and skills the parents would like to share to make the book distributions successful. “We ask ourselves, ‘What can we plan around their interests and hobbies?’” says RIF Coordinator Karen Leise, who oversees four of Goldenrod’s sites. “We try our best to gauge the needs of parents and to develop our activities based on that.”
The program’s activities have included travels to the local pumpkin patch, where the children selected pumpkins and books, which they read with their families in a designated area. At a garden party, families learned about caring for plants and the children potted their own flowers to take home. And tea parties, goldfish races, pajamas days, and Dr. Seuss-centered events were some of the other activities held throughout the year.
Several sites use their RIF book distributions to engage their communities. The Hartington location went to the Golden Living Center, a retirement home that in turn helped sponsor the site. There, parents read to their children and the youngsters shared their books with the residents. At a book distribution during Halloween, preschoolers and parents from another site visited the Oakland Nursing Home, where they decorated residents’ doors and the children staged a parade of costumes.
Some of Goldenrod’s book distributions focused on food and fatherhood. At their Father Chili-Feed, RIF volunteers served up books and bowls of delicious chili as dads acted as guest readers. During the Pizza with Papa/RIF event, the head start classes made pizzas and bookmarks and the men read aloud to the children.
Of their RIF program, Melissa Campbell, a teacher at the Hartington Head Start says “It’s an all around great program. It allows those who cannot afford to buy books or those who cannot make it to the library to be encouraged to read and it keeps families connected.”
Congratulations, Goldenrod Head Start for being named RIF’s Program of the Month for September.
As our August Program of the Month, we proudly recognize Jean Dean RIF. Nearly 20 years of partnership between RIF and Alabama Kiwanis, as well as the efforts of Coordinator Cathy Gafford, have helped to make this a highly successful and effective program.
The idea to begin the program was envisioned in 1991 when Kiwanis International launched a new initiative, Young Children Priority One, which aimed to improve the lives of children in Kiwanis districts from birth through age 5. That year, Cathy’s father, Joe Dean, was the district governor of Alabama Kiwanis and his wife Jean was first lady. They met with Rachel Blechman, then the first lady of Kiwanis International, and she shared her vision for Young Children Priority One, which included a large-scale partnership with RIF. Jean Dean received her idea with wholehearted enthusiasm. Sadly, not long after that meeting Jean passed away, but “Governor Joe” picked up the vision where “Mama Jean” left off, and he asked Cathy to partner with RIF on behalf of Alabama Kiwanis. After successfully creating a Books For Ownership program, Cathy named the program Jean Dean RIF in honor of her beloved mother.
In their first year, as a locally funded program, they served every Head Start in the state of Alabama—no small feat. In time they gained a federal grant from RIF, and have since become the signature service project of the Alabama Kiwanis Foundation, which reaches more than 26,000 children every year. Jean Dean RIF has become a model of large scale success.
In addition to a Books for Ownership program, Jean Dean RIF now offers Family of Readers where parents of 6,000 at-risk children participate in reading challenges, receive special family literacy training, and borrow books for their children through lending libraries provided by American Honda and Foot Locker. The program also offers a Migrant Books For Ownership program which serves Alabama’s agriculture producing counties. Through Shared Beginnings, 500 teen parents and their babies receive three books a year and take part in literacy activities. The program’s local volunteer/assistance network is outstanding, with over 2,000 Kiwanians and “friends of Kiwanis” spending at least 6,000 hours annually reading to RIF children. To raise funds, the program hosts two large annual events, the Jean Dean RIF Ride to Read, a motorcycle poker run which raised $4,000 this year, and Run to Read, a 5K race.
It’s been a long and fruitful journey from the idea of a RIF-Kiwanis partnership to its work now in Head Start and Even Start centers, state sponsored daycares, state early intervention centers, home-based daycare centers, and housing projects of Alabama. In all these places and more, the name Jean Dean RIF is recognized as a symbol of hope for forwarding this generation and those yet to come.
Historic Stillwater sits on the St. Croix River, a tributary of the Mississippi headwaters amongst the glacial lakes of eastern Minnesota. Stillwater, Minnesota’s oldest town, is also home to its oldest prison. It’s here at the Stillwater Prison where RIF Coordinator, Shirley Ingebritsen has left her mark in the name of self-improvement and education. Shirley is the site coordinator for the Stillwater Prison RIF site within Minnesota Department of Corrections RIF program.
Shirley is an educator who teaches reading, writing, math and social studies in the prison and began coordinating a RIF program at Stillwater 9 years ago.
The RIF program at Stillwater is run a little bit differently from the typical books for ownership model. Shirley primarily uses the program to foster a culture of literacy between Stillwater’s incarcerated parents and their children on the outside. After hearing parents at Stillwater complain they had little to discuss with their children, she found a way to encourage dialogue about books. The parents communicate with their children through letters or via telephone, and ask them what sort of books interests them. When a RIF book distribution is held at the prison, the parents peruse the books and write the titles that match their children’s interests on a slip of paper. Shirley then mails those books in literacy packets to the homes of the children. Afterwards, the parents ask the children about the book’s subject matter, the illustrations and their thoughts about the book. As a result, a correspondence of a literary nature is established between the parents and their children.
Roughly 120 parents inside the facility select books for 400 of their children. The parents also receive guidance and instruction in communication protocol to help ensure a positive exchange takes place with their children. Shirley has even recorded some of the parents reading their selected books on DVD, which is then sent to the children along with their book.
The fact that incarceration breaks up families is undeniable. The disruption and distance of incarceration, in a way, can be mitigated, creatively, by heartfelt and mission-driven gestures such as these. For these families facing the challenges of incarceration, RIF’s presence fosters a positive family culture, works to stem the troubling tide of generational incarceration, and ultimately enables those within the system to engage actively and constructively, in the lives of their children.
For this week’s Ambassador introductions, we’re heading South for a visit with our Ambassadors from Alabama and Kentucky.
Alabama ambassador, Sandra Jarman Calvin, has been an educator for 31 years and is now the Title 1 Parenting Coordinator and After School Program Director for Decatur City Schools in Decatur, Alabama. Since leaving the classroom, the students address Sandra as “Ms. Cookie” whenever they see her around school. Sandra applied for the RIF grant eight years ago and has been running the program in five local elementary schools. “Ms. Cookie” loves to see the faces of the students when they walk into a room filled with books they can choose from. Reading has always been extremely important to Sandra, even after leaving the classroom. “Reading opens your eyes, heart, and mind to a whole new world,” says Sandra. “I feel privileged and truly honored to be selected as the RIF ambassador for the state of Alabama.” Her life motto is “Live, laugh, and love!”
Kentucky ambassador, Kendra Mitchell, has organized the Lincoln County Schools RIF Program for the past two years. As the Lincoln County Schools Community Education Director and Parent Involvement Coordinator, Kendra has been employed by Lincoln County Schools for over five years and has coordinated many programs, including the Health and Wellness and Drug Free Communities programs. The Lincoln County Schools RIF Program consists of eight RIF distribution sites and serves over 2,600 children annually. Kendra insists that dedication and strong community support from many librarians, teachers, parent volunteers, and local businesses ensures a successful RIF program. In an effort to promote reading, site coordinators plan, organize, and implement a variety of RIF distribution themed events throughout the school year. Over the years, the Lincoln County Schools RIF Program has put books in the hands of thousands of children. “Seeing the excitement on their faces when they receive their new books is priceless,” says Kendra. “It shows the importance of the national RIF program.”
Hawai’i is the only U.S. state composed of multiple islands. Serving the at-risk population on these islands is the task of the Family Support Services of West Hawai’i,our June Program of the Month. Hawai’i’s geography presents unique challenges, but RIF Coordinator Shannon Ramirez and her staff persevere and overcome these obstacles through their strong belief in solidarity.
“Touching the lives of family and children is amazing, and RIF is the perfect fit for reaching out to the community and schools while getting AmeriCorps members involved,” states Shannon. With the support of RIF and AmeriCorps, Family Support Services of West Hawai’i is able to address many social issues. They provide services to special needs children through Early Intervention. Through Enhanced Healthy Start they help abused and neglected children. They strengthen family bonds through their Fatherhood Initiative, and serve low-income families through Early Head Start. They also create strong, constructive social networks that include dedicated parents and children through Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY).
As a HIPPY manager, Shannon wanted to connect with the families in the program. Inspired by RIF’s eNewsletter, and with the help of AmeriCorps members and volunteers, she created the bilingual monthly newsletter the “HIPPY Times,” making it available on paper and electronically for those who have Internet access. Each issue announces RIF distribution dates and studies that encourage reading and parental involvement.. “Communication is essential and HIPPY is well received,” Sharon states.
Shannon also used resources from RIF’s website, such as Leamos en Familia, to meet the needs of the increasing Hispanic population in Hawai’i. Shannon discussed with library staff the option of providing bilingual resources to their families, and they began providing Spanish books in their RIF program. With funds from Macy’s, they now also have a bilingual lending library.
Shannon states, “The families and children see RIF not only as a benefit but as something that is really important, and they want to tell us. They really appreciate this, and they do read the books. Thank you [RIF] so much for what you do for our organization. RIF is having such a huge impact.”
The ambassador letter of the week is “O” as in, “Oh my, let’s meet some outstanding ambassadors from Oklahoma and Ohio!”
Ohio RIF ambassador, Sue Sattler, has been a RIF coordinator for the past six years and loves to see the joy on her students’ faces when they pick out books for their own small children. Sue’s love for family led her to a career in education, working with pregnant teens, teen parents, and their families. For the past 21 years, Sue has been an instructor in the GRADS Program, an in-school educational program for pregnant and parenting teens. Throughout her teaching experience, she has seen positive outcomes when working with teen parents’ families, who are provided with education, support, and resources. “What better way to strengthen teen parents’ families than to sit down, read together, and enjoy the love of books together,” Sue said. “And that’s where RIF and Shared Beginnings come into play.” Sue feels honored to be a RIF ambassador and is looking forward to serving and promoting RIF.
Oklahoma RIF ambassador, Linda Hines, became the RIF coordinator at Will Rogers Early Childhood Center when the local Dollar General Corporation provided grants for their area elementary schools as a way to promote literacy in the community. In order to continue running her RIF program, Linda applied for and was granted federal funding for her RIF program due to a high level of need at the center. The Will Rogers Early Childhood Center serves approximately 500 pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children. With her love of reading, it was a natural move for Linda to become the literacy resource specialist when Will Rogers became a Phase IV Literacy First School. As the literacy and reading coach, Linda works with those students who are emerging readers. She loves experiencing the excitement when it “clicks” and her students realize they are reading. We love it too, Linda!
I’m excited to introduce two RIF ambassadors this week who each bring different experiences to their RIF programs, but are equally dedicated to spreading the joy of reading in their respective communities. Please join me in welcoming the RIF ambassadors from North Dakota and Virginia.
North Dakota RIF ambassador, Shirley Deibert, has worked in the field of early childhood for 35 years, 23 of those years with the Minot Head Start Program (MHS), in Minot, North Dakota. It is an inclusive program serving children that are economically and/or developmentally at risk. In 1993, Shirley left the classroom to become the professional development coordinator and eventually, she also became the RIF site coordinator for MHS. Over her seven years of involvement with RIF’s Family of Readers program, MHS has seen substantial growth in the number of parents helping their children build a love of books. For their final RIF event of the year, “Star Light, Star Bright, Won’t You Read Me a Book Tonight?” MHS converted their gym into an observatory where RIF children and parents had the opportunity to climb into a dome-shaped sphere and enjoy a night sky together before singing songs and choosing RIF books. Bravo, Shirley and Minot Head Start!
Two Minot Head Start children explore a RIF book in the comfort of a classroom reading corner.
In 2001, Virginia RIF ambassador, Michelle Carrera, started Thomas-Carrera Consulting and together with more than 100 companies and various public entities, she has leveraged over $4.6 million dollars in workforce programming. Michelle is heavily involved in facilitating relationships that strategically place employers at the forefront of workforce development within the community. She started the first RIF program in Norfolk, Virginia and established a partnership with the Rotary Club of Norfolk that now serves 17 schools and over 5,00 children, with the goal of serving all 22 schools by 2012. Michelle is a candidate at the University of Maryland Ph.D. program for organizational leadership. Her research is centered on the effective transfer of institutional knowledge and experiential learning environments. She resides in Hampton, Virginia with her sons Jonathan 15, and Nicholas, 12.
RIF volunteers and children from The Literacy Partnership in Norfolk, Virginia share the joy of reading together.
Ooops, I meant to post this yesterday but found the wi-fi site I frequent on the mountain closed “early” and therefore, no posting Saturday afternoon.
Week two in the new office finds RIF settling in and working full steam ahead on upcoming activities: “See What’s Brewing” on the Hill this week and the week of May 24 our spring Board meeting, Gala, visits by our national Volunteers of the Year and both our Literature Advisory Board and Multicultural Advisory Committee. Is this best called “piling it on” ourselves? It will be fun!
COTY: Looking in the rear view mirror, last week was kicked off by a delightful train trip to Stamford, Connecticut where RIF Board member Juanita James of Pitney Bowes was honored by the City of Stamford and the Jewish War Veterans Fred Robbins post 142 as the 65th Stamford Citizen of the Year (COTY). A room at the Italian Center the native Stamford citizens told me is regularly limited to 350-400 guests was packed with 550 individuals present to honor Juanita; quite a tribute, eh? And these folks know how to run a tribute program….an hour of great visiting in advance, dinner, scholarship presentations, and a fun Larry King Live production featuring Juanita followed by a formal presentation of her through remarks of her husband and son, Juanita’s acceptance and voila, it was only 9:15 p.m….plenty of time for more visiting by those who wished to do so! Without question the highlight of the evening was Juanita’s son Dudley N. Williams III presenting his mother – no dry eyes in the room and the most genuine mother/son love you could hope to find in a presentation. Congratulations, Juanita and family, we are so proud to work alongside you!
Pictures below: (1) Squint and you will see it is truly Larry King Live with Juanita as the guest! (2) Dudley III presents his mom. (3) Juanita accepts the award.
DCI: A few years ago as a 40th RIF anniversary gift to the children of DC, RIF national took on the task of directly coordinating the RIF Books for Ownership program within the DC Public Schools; we call it the DC Initiative or DCI. Working in cooperation with a designated lead at each school, RIF closes its office doors three days a year to spend time “walking the walk” in more than 40 schools. It is a time of learning for us and for renewing our dedication to RIF’s mission. This year we have used as the theme for the three distributions the particular culturally designated celebration in the month of the distribution…last week’s distribution was in honor of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. DC’s Martin Luther King Jr. elementary school has been paired this year for each distribution with students at Tyson William Elementary School in Anchorage, Alaska for a Skype experience each distribution; read more about the Dragon dance and these great students!
BookSpring of Austin: I learned through Twitter this week Supt. Carstarphen of Austin visited a RIF site at Barrington Elementary overseen by BookSpring in recent days. She found upon entering the library that it was camping time! What a great way to lead into summer reading – reminding our students in fun ways how important it is for them to continue their reading, expand their reading horizons!
HALF THE SKY: Finally, early in the week I completed this book by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn; it is a tough book to read…tough emotionally, tough intellectually to genuinely absorb “yes, this is all really happening to women and girls around the world.” I’ll write more later, but you need to put HALF THE SKY: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide on your reading list, the “must” read side of the list!
Wishing you all best wishes as you start the new week, Happy Reading!
Carol
Congressman Cao visits with students about their dreams for their futures.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Congressman Cao asked the enthusiastic students. Hands shot up as students prepared to answer the question. “I want to be a doctor” replied one student. “I want to be a police officer” replied another student. “I want to be a vegetarian”, replied still another student, “because I like animals”. The Congressman politely corrected the student, “I think you mean veterinarian!”.
This was the scene last Friday, May 7th at William J. Fischer Accelerated Academy as part of their third RIF book distribution sponsored by Communities In Schools of Greater New Orleans; the event was covered by The Times-Picayune. The theme for this distribution was “Dreams of What You Can Be” and CIS featured Congressman Ahn “Joseph” Cao (LA-2) for a special presentation and read-aloud to 3rd through 5th grade students. After reading My Granny Went to Market, Congressman Cao observed the students selecting their RIF books and volunteers from Communities In Schools helped the students stamp them and write their names in their new book.
“Teaching children how to read is essential to developing an educated and competitive work force, and the RIF Inexpensive Book Distribution program is a great way to get books in the hands of young readers. That is why I am so enthusiastic in my support for RIF and Communities in Schools,” said Congressman Cao.
“Reading is one of the ways that children can begin exploring different opportunities for their futures,” said Sara Massey, executive director of CIS – Greater New Orleans and RIF coordinator. “We are thrilled that Congressman Cao could join us in New Orleans to encourage students to begin thinking of their dreams and how reading can help them achieve their goals.”
The CIS – Greater New Orleans RIF program has provided 7,500 books for local children this school year. Last August, students at six Orleans parish schools received 2,500 books through the “United We Read” initiative launched by RIF, CIS – Greater New Orleans, and the National PTA as part of President Obama’s United We Serve campaign. Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the CIS – Greater New Orleans RIF program has provided more than 12,000 books to elementary school children in seven Orleans parish public schools.
RIF Coordinator and executive director Sara Massey greets Congressman Cao.
Happy reading!
Stephen Leach
VP Government Relations and Community Outreach
On this RIF Ambassador Tuesday, we’ll be introducing some of RIF’s best from the Midwest!
Kansas Ambassador, Pamela Madaus, was hired as Program Director for Reach Out and Read Kansas City in 2007. As a lifelong lover of books, Pam was excited to become a part of the effort to ensure that all children grow up with books as a part of a healthy childhood and enter kindergarten ready to learn. Reach Out and Read Kansas City (ROR-KC) is a Reading Is Fundamental program and a regional affiliate of the national Reach Out and Read (ROR). ROR-KC partners with 43 clinics in metropolitan Kansas City and is the area’s only medically-based early literacy program reaching at-risk children from infancy to age five. 73 percent of the children served by the ROR-KC program come from low-income families. ROR-KC annually distributes over 65,000 free, new books to approximately 24,000 children in the Kansas City area. Books are available in 21 different languages to meet the diverse needs of the children being served. Pam lives in Shawnee, KS with her husband, Will, and daughter, Rebekah (age 8). Pam is thrilled that Rebekah’s favorite author is Beverly Cleary—so much so that Klickitat Street and the Ramona statue were the highlights of a recent family vacation to Portland, Oregon!
RIF volunteer, Shelli Lockhart, Fox 4 TV reporter, was excited to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday by reading to the children at Operation Breakthrough at St. Vincent's Family Service Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Iowa Ambassador, Amanda Mart, is the Head Start Administrative Secretary for Upper Des Moines Opportunity Inc. (UDMO) and has been coordinating RIF for a year and a half. Each year, UDMO Head Start serves 328 children in eight counties and is expanding in two of them. With the help of partnering organizations, UDMO serves a total of 573 children with RIF funds. Each classroom has a teacher, assistant teacher, and home visitor who help facilitate the RIF book distribution parties three times a year. Parents and volunteers are always invited to attend the book distribution event and help children pick out their books to take home. Amanda and UDMO Head Start invite volunteers to become special, year-round classroom readers. Once a year, UDMO Head Start sends out a special RIF newsletter that explains what their program is all about and asks for donations from local businesses and clubs, while staff members regularly attend community meetings to share information about their RIF program and engage new volunteers. What a team effort!
An Upper Des Moines Opportunity Head Start teacher reads a featured RIF book to RIF children and parents from her class.
Several sites use their RIF book distributions to engage their communities. The Hartington location went to the Golden Living Center, a retirement home that in turn helped sponsor the site. There, parents read to their children and the youngsters shared their books with the residents. At a book distribution during Halloween, preschoolers and parents from another site visited the Oakland Nursing Home, where they decorated residents’ doors and the children staged a parade of costumes. 
In 2001, 
