Rasco From RIF

WEDNESDAY WINDOW: A Capital Day!

November 11th, 2009

Slapshot, The Washington Capitals Mascot; First Grade Student, King Elementary School; Brendan Morrison, Washington Capitals Player

Greetings, it’s Ernestine Walls Benedict, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at RIF. I’ve got some exciting news to share with you! On Nov 10, RIF kicked off the third year of its DC Initiative, the Washington DC RIF program that serves more than 16,000 children by distributing over 50,000 free books to them each year. RIF staff from the national office joined with local volunteers to organize and participate in reading celebrations throughout the city.

An extra special kickoff event was held at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in Southeast DC. First grade students at King Elementary participated in a cultural exchange via Skype with fifth grade students from the RIF Program at William Tyson Elementary School in Anchorage, Alaska. In observance of National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, the students from Tyson Elementary performed an action-filled interpretation of the children’s book, Totem Tale: A Tall Story From Alaska by Deb Vanasse and Erik Brook. The students also discussed Native Alaskan culture along with a lively Q & A session. King first graders confidently belted out their names and asked Tyson 5th graders a host of fun questions, “Does it ever get hot in Alaska?  Do you have real totem poles in your town? Have you ever seen an eagle or a polar bear?”  The students from Tyson enthusiastically answered each question and provided fun facts about Alaska.

The fun didn’t stop there! Washington Capitals player Brendan Morrison joined the celebration and talked with the students about his love for reading and hockey.  All the students beamed with joy when mascot Slapshot made a surprise guest appearance. To commemorate the day, the students received cool Washington Capitals magnets, autographed photos of Brendan in action on the ice AND most important of all, they got books!! Each student selected a new book to keep and also received a copy of Totem Tale: A Tall Story from Alaska. It was inspiring to see how the children connected with each other over Skype – opening new doors of communication and learning experiences that will hopefully stay with them for a lifetime. It was a Capital Day indeed!

Stay tuned for our next DC Initiative event on February 9, 2010 when King fifth graders will conduct a cultural exchange with Tyson first graders in celebration of Black History Month!

Happy Reading!
Ernestine

P. S. from Rasco:  See what a great job Ernestine did on FOX5 News on Tuesday talking about RIF and children’s literacy!  And here is a three-minute interview by The Washington Examiner.

Wednesday Window features books and/or information which illustrate the “Windows” portion of the paper “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors.”

Filed under: DCI, RIF Events, RIF Programs, RIF Volunteers, RIF in the Media, Wednesday Window

Tags: Deb Vanasse, Erik Brook, FOX5 News, National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, Totem Tale: A tall Story From Alaska, Washington Capitals, Washington Examiner