Note from Emily Simon
As a new member of the Rock for Reading Board of Directors, I was pleased to be invited to witness the reading awards at George Manierre Elementary School. Paul Natkin and I attended the event that is the culmination of the academic-year long partnership between the school and one of our grantees, Sit Stay Read!.
The school’s Principal, Shirley Roach, and the founder and Executive Director of Sit Stay Read!, MaryEllen Schneider, were on site to present the awards as well as offer the opportunity for the students to say goodbye to the dogs.
Rock for Reading also provided a book donation and each student received one book to take home and were able to select another book to pass on to a friend and give the gift of reading.
The school is part of Chicago Public Schools and is located in the Old Town neighborhood across the street from the Marshall Field Garden Apartments which is a subsidized housing project. The opportunity for the students to have individual attention focused on both reading and interacting with a dog and its owner is truly special and the excitement and pride of the students, dogs and owners was palpable!
Sit Stay Read! is the leading literacy organization in the United States to use dogs as a tool to improve reading skills and foster the love of learning in children living in poverty. Through a curriculum designed with the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Center for Literacy, Sit Stay Read’s trained volunteers and certified dog teams improve reading fluency, make reading fun, and inspire children to become lifelong readers.
The event was very inspirational and I was able to see the students transformation from exciteable and demonstrative while accepting their awards to becoming kind and respectful when it was their turn to sit with the dogs, read to them and say goodbye!
The correlation between reading and interacting with a dog clearly expanded the students’ experiences and worldviews and I am so proud to be part of Rock for Reading and to make it possible. On a seemingly normal Monday in Spring, I also had my worldview and experiences broadended.
Rock and Read on!
A note from Owen Duncan
The magic of giving books to children lies first in watching their eyes, then in hearing their voices. As the students from the Sue Duncan Children’s Center filed out into the hall where I had, courtesy of Rock for Reading, displayed 40 boxes of books for them to take home, eyes widened in the same way you see youngsters’ eyes widen when they walk in a toy store. Conversation dropped, eyes ranged up and down the row of boxes, and then one older child put it together and asked softly, “Are those for us?”
“Yes, they’re for you to take home. You may take one of each.”
For a moment no one said anything and then a girl asked in a quiet, it’s-too-good-to-be-true sort of voice, “You mean we can each take one, right?”
“No,” I said, “you may take one of each. If you can carry that many.”
Their eyes flickered from the books to my face and back. Several voices, rising with excitement, said, “Really?” Others had already believed my smile and were moving in, babbling happily. “Look, Malcolm X!” “Look, one about Aztecs!” The volume soared. “Ooh, this one’s in Spanish!” “How will we carry them all?”
Recycled plastic shopping bags were produced, an orderly system of distribution arranged, no effort was made to lower the volume. Older kids helped younger ones fill their bags and carry them. Overloaded bags split and were replaced. Children requested exceptions to the one-each rule. “My cousin really likes cars, can I take an extra book for him?” “My dad saw a program on India on TV last week, can I…” (Dad lives in a separate home) “My little brother…” The answer was always yes.
The volume had dipped once most bags were filled but then the children began to be picked up and it rose again. “Mom, look!” “Dad, can you carry these?” “Look, Gramma, these books are mine!”
Magic.
Owen Duncan Sue Duncan Children’s Center
Message from Talcott School
Wow! Everyone at Talcott Fine Arts and Museum Academy sends a big THANK YOU! Your wonderful donation to the students at Talcott truly inspired readers. We heard students say things like, “Hey, here are books on energy!” and “Ohh… I want this one, the one about the EPA.” The Spanish books were especially appreciated by some of our youngest readers who were able to select their books from a wide range of nonfiction topics, most of which connected to what they had learned in science and social studies. Your generosity of both books and spirit has left an indelible mark on the students of Talcott. Thank you!
Margaret McGregor
Literacy Coach
Chicago Literacy Initiative Partnership
Talcott Fine Arts and Museum Academy
Message from Murphy Elementary School
Hi Rock For Reading group!
I just wanted to tell you how much the students at our school appreciated the books that you donated. The students were excited to be reading non-fiction text, but were thrilled to find out that they got to keep these books and add them to their home libraries.The teachers and staff were overwhelmed by your generous donation to the reading development at our school. Most of our students don’t own many books and you could tell they were very excited to share these books with their family. As our assistant principal, Jesse Tang said, “the first step for reading success is putting books in students hands”. Thanks to your work, we are closer to accomplishing that goal.
Thank you again! This was a wonderful experience for everyone involved!
Kay Connley
Reading Coach
Murphy Elementary School – CPS
Thanks to Sourcebooks, Inc.
A big thank you to Sourcebooks Inc. of Naperville for their donation of more than 8,000 children’s books – welcome to our “Creating a Nation of Readers” family! Melissa Wood, the accounts manager with Sourcebooks who organized the donation, also spent her Saturday helping R4R volunteers sort the books for potential recipients.
We are still looking for new homes for the books- six different fairy titles appropriate for ages seven and up. If your school, library, or other non-profit organization is interested, please contact us for more information.
Message from Agassiz School of the Fine and Performing Arts
Thanks SO much for the generous contribution of over 2000 books to Agassiz School! Every student from kindergarten through eighth grade received from 5-10 books in both Spanish and English. The photos show a first grade classroom receiving their books. The joy you see was duplicated in each and every one of our classrooms!
The mother of one of our bilingual families commented to her daughter, ” Now our house looks like the library!”
I still have students thanking me every day, and letting me know which of the books is their favorite.
Your program is outstanding. We truly appreciate your gift to us!
Julie Hines-Lyman
Agassiz School of the Fine and Performing Arts
Board Members Visit Talcott Fine Arts Academy
On Friday, May 1, R4R Board members Paul Natkin and Jeff Peterson celebrated “Day of the Child” with teachers and students at Talcott Academy. R4R donated a large selection of books and, as part of the celebration, each student in grades pre-K through eighth, was allowed to select five books to take home.
After picking out his books, we overheard fifth grader, Isaac, exclaiming, “Cool! Cool! Cool!” We asked Isaac about his new books and he proudly showed off his Spanish language book about fire trucks. “I really like fire trucks, but I really wanted to know about their parts” Isaac told us.
At Talcott, students learn both Spanish and English so teachers and students greatly appreciated the donation of books in both languages. “There’s never enough books in Spanish,” explains teacher Raysa Ramos. “Some students are more comfortable reading one language over another, so to have a selection in both languages gets them to read even more.”
Some of the books donated were “just for fun” reading, while others met Talcott’s curriculum. “We’re getting books that are connected to what we’re teaching which is ideal” said Chicago Public Schools Literacy Coach, Margaret McGregor. In fact, R4R plans to work closely with Talcott to match future book donations to school lesson plans.
As all of the students patiently stood in line to pick out their books, we could see how much these books meant to them. After making their selections, most of the kids immediately sat down in the hallway and started to read, some quietly and some, like Isaac, couldn’t contain their excitement.
As the students made their way back to their classrooms, we heard dozens of students say “thank you” which warmed our hearts and made us proud to help kids develop a love of reading. We can’t wait to go to the next school!
R4R Board member Jeff Peterson
Thanks from Sit Stay Read!
Dear Rock for Reading Friends,
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for your donation of nearly 600 books to Sit Stay Read literacy programs—you ROCK!
It’s that time of year where we start organizing for the big Reading Rewards Celebration in all our classrooms. At the celebration, each of our 350 students gets to choose books of their very own to keep and one to give to a younger reader.
That means we need a LOT of books. Jenn and Allison had a blast sorting the books and, as you can see, Shandy did a great job supervising.
Thanks to your generosity, we are well on our way to getting all the books we need.
We’re so grateful to Rock For Reading!
We’ll be sure to check back with you at the end of May to share photos of the kids and dogs having tons of reading fun.
MaryEllen Schneider (and Shandy!)
Sit Stay Read
Executive Director
Welcome to our blog!
Welcome to the Rock For Reading blog. You’ll be hearing from various board members and friends of the organization here; we’ll be talking not only about upcoming events and projects but also what we’re reading, feeling and thinking about.
Virtually everyone I talk to about R4R immediately gets it and asks the same question: “How can I help?” I thought I’d get the ball rolling here by sketching out an answer.
1. Volunteer. Odds are that your community has myriad literacy programs; sign up to read to people. It’s a powerful way to connect and to share the magic of books with folks, adults and kids alike, who are learning to read.
2. Donate books. Those piled-up paperbacks, yellowing novels and hardbound classics gathering dust on your shelves? They’re pure gold for programs like ours. Pack ‘em up, drop ‘em off and think about the adventures and insights they’ll bring to new readers.
3. Donate money. Sure, times are tough. But if you can spare a few dollars, you’ll find that donating to literacy is a huge investment in your community’s future.
4. Raise awareness. Are you the person in your circle who sends around e-mails full of worthy causes and inspiring stories? Send a message to your list about Rock for Reading and other literacy organizations. Suggested subject line: “If You Can Read This, You Can Help.” Are you a publicist, marketer, advertising whiz, copywriter, rabble rouser or consciousness raiser? Lend your people-reaching skills to the cause. Word of mouth is still the surest way to way to change the world.
Have you found a creative way to contribute to literacy in your community? We want to know about it. E-mail us at info@rockforreading.org.
More soon; I’ve got some reading to catch up on.
Love,
Alice
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