Archive for March, 2009
From the left: Sam Houston librarian Moses Castillo is 'the man in the yellow hat' on this RIF distribution day; Airport Drive Elementary School officials 'Get Buggy for Reading'; and North Bridge Elementary School librarian Pam Scott helps kids stamp their books.
RIF programs throughout South Texas held book distributions during FESTIBA week. With Diana Padilla, our RIF staff member in the area, I visited three of those distributions in Weslaco last Thursday…what fun! At Airport Drive Elementary School I was greeted by principal Ms. I. Cuadra whom I had seen at a banquet on Wednesday evening: Airport Elementary was a TBEC Honor Roll School! Librarian Karen Boward had displays of books and pictures for the theme “Get Buggy about Reading!” I enjoyed visiting with the students about favorite books of mine and hearing their suggestions about books to offer.
The next stop was North Bridge Elementary School where I met principal John Garlic and librarian Pam Scott. The 2nd grade class and I shared a book with collage technique illustrations, which prompted great discussion. I also found the students very interested in some of the books about art as well as beloved chapter books! Diana and I visited Sam Houston Elementary School as the last stop where “the man in the yellow suit with the yellow hat” turned out to be Moses Castillo, librarian at Sam Houston! A lot of Curious George displays were up in this busy, busy media center where students were using computers, learning to shelve books, taking assessments, creating paper quilts with illustrations of Curious George, and carefully choosing their RIF books.
Thank you to all three schools’ administrators, librarians, teachers, and students for giving me such a warm welcome!
Happy Reading and we still need help with our FY10 budget!
Carol
March 31st, 2009
Hello, Jonathan Hedgpeth here again. I want to share with you another story of a program that exemplifies the enduring RIF spirit.
Lewiston, Maine, a snowy, post-Industrial community of 35,000 on the banks of the icy Androscoggin River, is a far cry from the arid plains that gird East Africa’s Gulf of Aden. Nevertheless, between 2001 and 2006 approximately 4,000 Somali secondary migrants relocated to Lewiston from various communities across the U.S. Most of them had been given safe passage from their conflict-ridden homeland by refugee agencies in the late 1990s. After their initial arrival in larger metropolitan areas, they became attracted to Lewiston because of its low crime rate and affordable cost of living. The addition of so many new children presented a number of challenges for the public school system of Lewiston. Educators had to adapt, and quickly. Their ELL programs ballooned practically overnight.
Enter Donna Spugnardi, account coordinator for the Lewiston Public School RIF Program, which has served this community since March 2000. She’s quick to tell anyone how important RIF is to the children. Earlier this month, the program celebrated the NEA’s Read Across America with a week full of literacy activities, the culmination of which was a RIF distribution! Donna was very enthusiastic about celebrating the culture of literacy these events fostered. The program’s activities were festive and imparted the values of literacy. Hurray for Dr. Seuss! Donna loves to dress up as the Cat in the Hat, and the children love it, too.
The RIF book distributions are especially meaningful for the Somali children. Susan Martin, Lewiston’s director of English Language Learner Programs says that, “It provides something that students can share with parents whether they read together in English or discuss using pictures.” RIF is empowering these families by providing them with books and by emphasizing the importance of literacy.
Language challenges notwithstanding, there is no shortage of humorous anecdotes. With a laugh, Donna told of how the phrase a moose sounds like the Somali word for quiet. Anyone who has had any experience with elementary-school-aged children can imagine how useful such a phrase would be. One thing is for certain, as of this writing, there is no shortage of moose or grateful RIF kids in Maine.
Jonathan
March 31st, 2009
Pictured at the March 25 event at UTPA to recognize 2008 TBEC Honor Roll Schools are left to right Dr. Orbry Holden, TBEC director of Business and Education Outreach; Dr. Charles A. Sorber, UTPA interim president; Dr. Blandina Cárdenas, Bridge Builder Award recipient; Carol Rasco, president and CEO of Reading Is Fundamental; Dr. Paul Sale, UTPA provost and vice president for Academic Affairs; Ken Zornes, TBEC executive director; and Dr. John Edwards, UTPA vice president for Enrollment and Student Services.
As indicated in an entry in February, RIF was again this year a proud co-sponsor of FESTIBA 2009 led by the University of Texas-Pan American. RIF’s involvement this year started on Wednesday evening, March 25 at a dinner honoring the 37 South Texas schools named as 2008 Honor Roll Schools by the Texas Business and Education Coalition (TBEC). I was honored to serve as the keynote speaker for this event.
TBEC identifies Honor Roll Schools by analyzing three years of performance data for all the public schools in Texas. An Honor Roll School must have a high percentage of students meeting state standards on every Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test for three consecutive years and have the highest percentage of students performing at the state’s most rigorous standard – commended – in every subject. The selection criteria also considers the school’s demographics, number of subjects tested, and grade levels.
In 2008 only 298 of the more than 8,000 Texas public schools were recognized as Honor Roll Schools by TBEC, which began its Honor Roll program nine years ago. Formed in 1989, TBEC is an alliance of business leaders formed to engage with educators in a long-term effort to improve public education in Texas.
Of the 37 schools from South Texas honored, the following Honor Roll Schools are RIF sites: Travis Elementary School, Corpus Christi ISD; Liberty Elementary School, Eagle Pass ISD; Austin, Canterbury, Jefferson, and Trevino Elementary Schools, Edinburg CISD; Milam and Rayburn Elementary Schools, McAllen ISD; Charles H. Mims Elementary School, Mission ISD; and Airport and Memorial Elementary Schools and Weslaco High School, Weslaco ISD. Congratulations to all!
I was also proud to learn Mims Elementary School listed above is not only a RIF site but has received this TBEC Honor Roll status all nine years it has been awarded and is the only school in South Texas earning the award this many times. Mims has also recently been named a Distinguished National Title I School, one of only 57 so designated in the nation; Mims was selected for outstanding results in exceptional student performance for two or more consecutive years. What a great school to call part of the RIF family, gold stars to Mims!
Happy Reading and we still need help with our FY10 budget!
Carol
March 30th, 2009
Kappa Kappa Gamma volunteers visit with students at a recent “Reading Is Key” event at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington.
On Saturday, Rachel Hutt, RIF’s manager of special projects, and I presented to Kappa Kappa Gamma alumnae at the Lambda Province meeting in Richmond, Va. At lunch we visited informally with both alumnae and members of active chapters from the province that covers Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. How exciting it was to hear of chapters making weekly visits to nearby elementary schools to read with students, as well as the rich variety of other activities in the Reading Is Key events going on across this province. RIF has a critical need for strong advocates such as the Kappas who embody our mission and vision. They truly understand the need for quality literacy training and resources for our nation’s children and families.
RIF says again “THANK YOU, KAPPA KAPPA GAMMA!”
Happy Reading and we still need help with our FY10 budget!
Carol
March 30th, 2009
I’m Henry Dunbar, RIF director of communications, guest blogging again on our Programs of the Month. The third program recognized in March 2009 is the Friends of Natrona County Public Library RIF Program in Casper, Wyo. Continuously providing free books to children in need for more than 30 years, this program serves more than 1,000 children ages 3–12 each year. Library Youth Services Coordinator Jerry Jones also serves as RIF coordinator and does an excellent job publicizing the group’s efforts to promote literacy in community schools and RIF’s role in advancing their mission. Jones wrote an article in The Casper Journal highlighting the library’s programs for children and their families a variety of literacy activities throughout the year—including the RIF distributions and a summer reading program.
RIF launched the Programs of the Month initiative to honor the ongoing efforts of local programs to fulfill the mission of RIF, which depends on programs like these to promote children’s literacy. Thanks to thousands of volunteers, children all across the country are discovering the joy of reading.
Happy Reading and we still need help with our FY10 budget!
Henry
March 30th, 2009
When I see the simple question “Why?” on the cover of a book I am drawn to it as it sure means the authors know what will appeal to children. Haven’t all parents, teachers, and caregivers heard this word almost more than any other? I am certain there must be fun waiting inside the covers of this book!
Submit your cover story here!
Happy Reading and we still need help with our FY10 budget!
Carol
March 30th, 2009
As you again immerse yourself in March Madness games this weekend, I hope at breaks in the action you’ll take 10 minutes to visit RIF’s Advocacy Center. Check on the status of our House and Senate Dear Colleague letters in support of RIF’s fiscal year 2010 funding. If your members of Congress haven’t already signed on, please send them an e-mail. It’s quick and simple! Messages from constituents can make quite a difference in securing our funding. If you’ve already written your delegation but see they haven’t yet signed, please send a friendly reminder. ACT NOW! Our Dear Colleague letters close April 1!
Happy Reading!
Carol
March 27th, 2009
Jeff Kinney’s hilarious series will resonate with the wimpy kid in all of us.
Often in the children’s literacy world we talk about books for children, and try to read them from a child’s perspective; but too frequently we don’t talk about or read the books for the books’ sake. Similarly, I find I need to remind myself how much I enjoy talking with colleagues about books for adults that I’ve read. Unfortunately I seldom take time for that kind of social reflection. To remedy this, today I institute WEEK’S END: each Friday I’ll share with you some book I’ve recently read and write a few comments about it. The book may be for children or for adults. It won’t be a full review, just some thoughts and feelings. I hope you’ll share comments with me. I’m always interested in hearing different perspectives on a book, how others have experienced it. And I’m also eager to learn about books you recommend for my reading list!
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: Wow! It was pure fun to read this series by Jeff Kinney. Thanks, Jeff, for frequent laughter and delightful walks back into my own adolescent years, the lives of my children, as well as the lives of the children I’ve taught. Almost all of us have been a bit “wimpy” at one point or another. Or we certainly know a Greg Heffley, the wimpy kid whose voice we hear as he keeps his journal. Greg reminds us in the first sentence that this is indeed a “JOURNAL, not a diary. I know what it says on the cover, but when Mom went out to buy this thing I SPECIFICALLY told her to get one that didn’t say ‘diary’ on it.” After all, we learn it was his mother’s idea he start writing down his “feelings,” which he notes will NOT be happening….and then he starts to write and to draw for us.
As I read the first two books in the series, I was on a business trip that had several flight connections. I knew these books were something special before I opened the first book. Young people who saw the cover would smile really big or give me a high five or punch a friend and point to me. I also knew the books were on the minds of parents, who stopped me in more than one airport and on the planes themselves. They asked “Do you think these books are appropriate for my child aged X?” I had to restrain myself from laughing as I gave my endorsement of the books and explained how, with my trip down memory lane, it was easy to see why children are motivated to read more and more of these books. The parents asked “Why?” I answered that I thought the books appealed to kids, and I knew few adults who would read these books and not see either themselves or kids they knew in the middle/junior high grades. I realize my generation didn’t have the fear of seeing one’s mother show up on YouTube moving to the beat of the school assembly band, but that image still strikes a chord. Most of us as teenagers have experienced the fear of a parent trying too hard to fit in. Mortifying, remember? And readers will recognize The Cheese Touch phenomenon as a feature in all our lives, one or more times.
I’ve read articles about Jeff Kinney’s adventure in writing this series (which actually started as an adult series!), and about how both reluctant readers and voracious readers treasure the books. I’m thrilled to know more Wimpy Kid books—and a movie as well, of course—are planned.
Happy Reading and we still need help with our FY10 budget!
Carol
March 27th, 2009
Hi, Henry Dunbar, RIF director of communications, blogging today. Our second March 2009 Program of the Month is Lincoln Elementary School of Marion, Ind., which has been providing free books to children ages 5–11 since 2007. Partly funded by Dollar General, the program serves 315 children. While relatively new, RIF Coordinator Billie Frossard and other volunteers have done a great job in embracing the spirit of RIF. They organized a back-to-school book event last fall to help children get excited about reading in the new school year and held a big Dr. Seuss Celebration earlier this month. Parents participate in the book distributions, and the local newspaper highlights the events.
Congratulations, Lincoln Elementary School RIF!
Happy Reading and we still need help with our FY10 budget!
Henry
March 26th, 2009
We are three weeks into our FY10 Dear Colleague letters campaign, and more than 1,100 messages have been sent by “Friends of RIF” to Capitol Hill. Currently, we have 45 signers in the House and 12 signers in the Senate (see a full list). Thank you all so much for getting involved up to this point, but we still have a week to go to increase the number of signers on our letters.
We are anticipating many more offices signing on in support of RIF’s funding but they have to hear from their communities. Even if you have already sent a message, a friendly reminder from you, your friends, and family could make the difference between your members of Congress signing on or not. Please click here to see if your senators and representative have signed our Dear Colleague letters. If they have not, please take action—send a quick reminder asking them to sign on by the April 1 deadline.
We are asking Congress to appropriate $28 million to fund RIF’s book distribution program for 4.5 million underserved children and families in fiscal year 2010. The funding is critical to support our literacy programs at nearly 18,000 locations nationwide.
Please send your message NOW and help us finish the campaign in banner fashion! Thank you in advance for your support of this very important initiative! Send your representatives an e-mail!
Carol
March 25th, 2009
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