Rasco From RIF

RIF Program of the Month

March 1st, 2010

Page Ahead students enjoy meeting Rachael Flatt and receiving autographs.

This year, Page Ahead is celebrating their 20th year anniversary as a literacy program. As their organization website states, “In two decades, we’ve gone from a King County book giveaway program to the leading provider of children’s books and literacy services in Washington State!” Like RIF, Page Ahead began with a single book drive and grew to a program serving 55,000 at-risk children per year. Founded in 1990 as “Books for Kids,” Page Ahead was organized by a group of volunteers from the Seattle Chamber of Commerce’s “Leadership Tomorrow” program. That year, their initial book drive was a success and received many positive responses from the people of the community. Consequently, the team knew “Books for Kids” had enormous potential and that they needed to find a way to give children more books. The team raised money to hire a part-time executive director, Keltie Wright, to help run the program. In their first year, they distributed 5,600 new books to 4,000 children in Washington State. In 1994, “Books for Kids” established their office, and in 1999, the organization became a RIF partner. Since their founding, more than 1.7 million new books have been distributed to children from birth to age 12. In addition, the program has partnered with more than 200 preschools, elementary schools, early childhood centers, migrant centers, homeless shelters, teen parenting programs, and social service agencies across Washington.

Page Ahead encourages children to read and parents to support their children’s literacy skills by holding motivational and fun activities at their sites. Their Read Around the World Literacy Night included classrooms that displayed the traditions, customs, and languages of different countries. The children were given passports, and they traveled to their destination, they glanced at their passports and read a short passage describing the “country.” When they arrived, they were greeted by representatives of each country. Once the children “traveled around the world,” they chose a book to take home and share with their families.

In January 2010, RIF helped provide the opportunity for several children from Page Ahead to attend the Pre-Olympic National Skating Championship where they met the U.S. Women’s National Figure Skating Champion Rachael Flatt. Page Ahead has also been honored by the International Reading Association and the City of Seattle Council with the “Celebrate Literacy Award” for their service in the promotion of literacy.

Jacki Crowther, the RIF coordinator for 11 years and the first RIF Ambassador from Washington, enjoys her partnership with RIF and believes RIF has greatly aided the ability of Page Ahead to provide books to children. When she was asked about her experience as a RIF coordinator, she stated, “The best part of my day is when all the thank-you notes from the children come in. They are hilarious, heartwarming, and sometimes heartbreaking. It reminds me why we are all doing this work together. Books are not a luxury, they are a necessity.”

RIF commends this program’s dedication and hard work as they couple reading books with positive experiences in the lives of the children they serve. Congratulations, Page Ahead!

Page Ahead students with “Good Luck” signs for Rachael!

Happy Reading!

The RIF Program of the Month Selection Committee

Filed under: RIF Programs, RIF Programs of the Month

Tags: Jacki Crowther, Keltie Wright, Page Ahead, Rachael Flatt, RIF Program of the Month