Rasco From RIF

A RIF Program of the Month: Wynne, Arkansas

December 10th, 2009

    
Wynne Intermediate School serves 462 children in the fourth and fifth grades and is located in the Arkansas Delta. For the past 16 years, Wynne has held engaging motivational activities for the students and parents. Last year when each of these grades was studying different countries and cultures, the RIF coordinator built on the studies and planned a multicultural book-themed distribution. Authors and titles were chosen to help represent that theme. The Family Literacy Night is the largest of the three distributions. The event is organized by the school staff in order to promote parent involvement in the schools and in their child’s education. Parents and students generally rotate stations and do arts and craft projects, walk through the book station, and listen to a storyteller. Last year, author Michael Shoulders came to visit. He spoke to the gathering about becoming a writer and the writing process;  when the students left to select their books, Mr. Shoulders spoke to the parents about the importance of books in the home and reading to their children no matter how old they are. Ree Routon, the former coordinator who recently has moved to the Wynne High School library, discussed with RIF staff recently the impact RIF has had on Wynne. She pointed out the connection that every student in the intermediate school has had with the Wynne Public Library. The librarians come to speak with the students and promote coming to the library with their parents to get library cards and check out books. Mrs. Routon also mentioned that the closest bookstore to Wynne is roughly a 50 mile drive; this means it is not common for many kids to own their own books, except the beautiful books they receive through RIF. Kaley Boeckmann has recently taken over the RIF program and is looking to continuing the great RIF traditions in Wynne. 

Congratulations to Wynne Intermediate School and Happy Reading to all!
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Filed under: Author/illustrator visits, RIF Programs of the Month

Tags: Michael Shoulders, Wynne AR Intermediate School