Sponsor Logo poster for website

Read-A-Palooza fundraiser most successful to date

by DonorsEventsNewsRead-a-PaloozaSupporters

Generous sponsors and donors joined forces with a dedicated committee of volunteers to make Read-A-Palooza 2016 an absolute success. The sixth annual event, held March 7th at Paterno’s at the Park, drew a larger crowd and raised more funds than any prior year.

According to Lynn Kessler, Communications and Development Director for Read Aloud, the organization was especially pleased with the outcome at a time when many non-profits have struggled to maintain previous levels of support for their fundraising efforts.

“This event always leaves us invigorated by the steadfast support of old friends as well as the excitement of making new ones,” said Kessler. “That held true this year in every way. We had amazing support from sponsors and donors, an enthusiastic committee and a wonderful crowd of guests!”

The happy hour-style event featured appetizers, drinks and conversation in a casual atmosphere. Guests bid on silent auction items including handmade jewelry, various West Virginia travel packages, art, meals and more.

Read-A-Palooza 2016 was presented by Platinum Sponsors Moses Auto Group, BrickStreet Foundation, The Elliot Family Foundation and Johnstone and Gabhart, LLP.

 

Photo (above right): Read-A-Palooza committee members Betsy Sokolosky, Johanna Miesner and Allison Boyd visit with guest and Read Aloud supporter Emma Busse.

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Collaboration for Imagination

by Book DistributionBooksChaptersEventsNewsPartnersReading

By Sara Busse

Country music legend Dolly Parton has a dream: to put books in the hands of young children across America. Thanks to Marion Tanner, that dream is becoming reality in Fayette County.

On May 7th, the Fayette County Read Aloud chapter hosted an event to launch Parton’s program, Imagination Library, to the families of the area. According to Tanner, it was a day to remember.

“Seeing all of those young families bringing in their babies with ribbons in their hair and all dressed up to get books—I haven’t seen anything like that in a long time!” Tanner exclaimed.

Tanner and Linda Cole are chapter co-presidents of Read Aloud in Fayette County. They are expanding the organization to put readers in all county elementary schools. The introduction of Dolly’s program will supplement their efforts by providing access to books for the areas youngest residents.

“We have so many kids who come to kindergarten that have never held a book,” the compassionate retired teacher said. “This encourages them to start libraries of their own.”

Cole and Tanner attended Read Aloud’s summer conference in 2015 and heard Nancy Hanna speak. Hanna works with the Greenbrier County Campaign for Grade Level Reading and talked about resources they were utilizing in the county. Imagination Library was one.

Parton’s initiative provides a book a month to children, ages birth to five, who are registered with the program and living in an area with a sponsor, like Read Aloud in Fayette County. The local group procures money to pay for mailing the books to the children.

“It’s $2.10 per student each month,” Tanner explained. “At the Read Aloud conference, [Hanna] talked about Early Literacy Grants—and one of the things they could be used for was to purchase Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library for their school system. I asked the Title One people in our county what they spent that money for, and found out we could apply.” Tanner received a grant through the state and through the Fayette County Board of Education.

Tanner and Cole are members of Delta Kappa Gamma, an international group of women educators, instrumental in organizing the Fayette County Read Aloud program. Many of the Fayette chapter’s members were on hand for the launch of Imagination Library on May 7th in the Oak Hill High School cafeteria.

“It was really rewarding for so many of us from Delta Kappa Gamma. We have all been teachers in the area, and nearly every young parent there was someone we had in school. Now they were bringing in their babies to get books,” Tanner said. The members of Delta Kappa Gamma did face painting and hosted a story corner with  Clifford the dog. Many other community organizations participated in or donated to the event.

“Kroger donated water, Marquee Cinemas in Beckley gave us popcorn,” Tanner said. Other participants included the Fayetteville Women’s Club with a “Jack and the Beanstalk” theme, complete with “magic beans” for the children to plant; the Mount Hope Lions Club with a fishing game as well as eyesight testing; The National Park Service with “Furs and Skulls” (from animals you could find in the New River Gorge such as skunks, otter, fox, etc.); and the West Virginia Treasurer’s office promoting Smart 529 college accounts.

Tanner credits Robin Taylor, Program Director of Imagination Library, of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, with making the Fayette program possible. The department gave the Fayette group a $500 grant to kick off the program.

“We used that money to buy books—we gave books to the brothers and sisters who came in so every child could get a book at the event,” Tanner said. “We registered 160 kids at the event.” After the event, the Fayette Read Aloud group went to the Meadow Bridge library and the Montgomery Library and registered children there, as well. The public libraries in the county will have registration forms, and families can also register online.

While the event was a great success, Tanner is realistic and knows there is a lot of work ahead.

“There are 2,600 kids eligible for the program,” she explained. “When I was a middle school teacher, there were kids who were so far behind because they couldn’t read. But we did something that just might make a difference.

“This is a labor of love—you want them to be successful. It was one of the best days I’ve had in a long time.”

For information on the Imagination Library program, visit www.imaginationlibrary.com. For information about other Imagination Library programs in West Virginia, contact Robin Taylor, Program Director, of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, at robin.j.taylor@wv.gov.

Sara Busse is a long-time Charleston resident and community volunteer. Her work at Trinity’s Table earned her recognition as a 2016 YWCA Woman of Achievement.

 

Photos (l-r): Christie and Grant Campbell registered their children, Christian (l) and Destiny (r), for Imagination Library at Oak Hill High School, May 7; Kathy Coleman (center), Delta Kappa Gamma member, read Jack and the Beanstalk to Brooklyn (l) and Maxx Davis.  The Fayetteville Women’s Club provided materials for children to plant their own magic beans.  Kathy is also a member of the FWC; Clifford, the Big Red Dog was a big hit with young listeners at the launch event.

The community that reads together

by BooksChaptersEventsNewsReadingSupporters

By Nikki Moses

If you asked, “What are YOU Reading?” in Randolph County last winter, you most likely heard a resounding retort: To Kill a Mockingbird. The GFWC Elkins Woman’s Club, the Rotary Club, students from Elkins Mountain School and others came together to read Harper Lee’s classic in February.

The effort was led by Randolph County’s Read Aloud President, Mary Boyd, and supported by the Women’s Club, which gave $100. They challenged the Rotary to read, hosted an essay contest with a $50 prize and invited the community to a screening of the movie version of the book at the Old Brick Playhouse in Elkins.

The essay prize was captured by a tenth grader at Elkins Mountain School. Teacher Heidi Jeffries “took this project and ran with it,” Boyd said. “She read the book with 60 students, and they really connected with it.”

One was the young man who walked away with the essay prize. “He was over the moon,” Boyd said.

People were asked to write about what, if any, prejudices exist against African Americans. The essay contest winner responded that although prejudice is less prevalent  and less evident than it used to be, it still exists, and not for African Americans alone.

“The prejudice portrayed in the book is something I know firsthand. I am not an African American, although I’ve been discriminated against due to size, attractiveness and ethnic background. I am treated differently because I’m in placement and I also don’t have a family and am made fun of because of it. I tolerate this on a daily basis, and know it won’t stop but will continue.

One time I was at school when another kid found out that I was in a placement facility as a ward of the state and didn’t have a family. They announced that no one should make acquaintance with me or hang out with someone like me. I heard another student make a comment about me, ‘He doesn’t have a family and he’s a juvenile, he’s bound to be trouble; and if you hang around someone like that you’re bound to be in trouble too.’ All of my friends or the people that I thought were my friends instantly quarantined me. It was a big blow and this hurt. In these circumstances it didn’t end justly.”

Boyd said preliminary plans are underway for another reading event in the fall. She is a Randolph County pediatrician who has also participated in the Reach Out and Read program, where patients ages six months to five years receive a book each time they visit her for a checkup, for more than 20 years.

Nikki Moses is the former editor of the Read Aloud newsletter and a board member. She is an active volunteer in the Charleston community.

 

Photo courtesy of Mary Boyd: Boyd and teacher Heidi Jeffries visit with the winner of the To Kill a Mockingbird essay contest.

Charitable IRA rollover is a win-win

by DonorsNewsSupporters

Are you age 70 and a half or older? Do you have an IRA (or more than one)? If you answer both questions yes, and are planning to make a charitable gift this year, then you should consider making a qualified charitable distribution, or QCD, from one or more of your IRA accounts. Your favorite charity will benefit, and you will save federal income taxes.

The tax laws regarding QCDs were made permanent at the end of 2015, and permit an individual to contribute up to $100,000 per year to a qualified charity by means of a direct transfer of funds from an IRA to the charity. (You cannot take a distribution from your IRA and then make the donation.) By doing so, you will avoid federal income tax on the transferred funds, as well as potential limitations on your charitable deduction. If you are required to take minimum distributions from your IRA, a QCD can satisfy this obligation.

In order to make a QCD, you must carefully comply with the rules; consultation with your personal tax advisor, your IRA custodian, and the intended charity will help ensure compliance.

 

Snuggle and Read Expands Across WV

by Book DistributionChaptersSupporters

By Lesley McCullough McCallister

Last summer at Read Aloud West Virginia’s annual conference, county board members and coordinators networked and shared best practices regarding ways to introduce children to the love of reading. A direct result of those collaborative conversations: Snuggle and Read events are expanding throughout the state. In these sessions, young children, along with their parents, are encouraged to snuggle up under a cozy blanket and enjoy a new book together.

The simple idea to encourage the love of reading with great books and comfy blankets has spread like wildfire in recent months as Snuggle and Read events were held in Cabell, Jackson, Mercer, Nicholas, Pocahontas and Tucker counties this spring.

Jackson County alone has held eight such events, one at each of the seven elementary schools in the county and the public library, reaching more than 200 students since March.

“Statistics show that less than twenty percent of parents are reading to their children,” said Cheryl Miller, retired Ripley Elementary kindergarten teacher and Snuggle and Read coordinator for Read Aloud of Jackson County. “This is alarming, so we were looking for new ways to promote and encourage literacy within the family.”

Miller noted parents often ask teachers, “What can I do to help my child?” Truly, one of the simplest things parents can do is read to them. Snuggle and Read events empower parents by modeling techniques that make reading together a fun experience for both parent and child.

Miller added, “We knew we were on to something because at the end of each event, someone always asked when the next Snuggle and Read event would be held.”

At a Snuggle and Read event that coincided with Valentine’s Day in Cabell County, volunteers from Community of Grace United Methodist Church and Girls Scouts Troop #1174 read to the students at Highlawn Elementary in Huntington and distributed 300 books and blankets for students to take home and share with their families.

At the end of February, Tucker Valley Elementary Middle School hosted a Snuggle and Read Family Night, where the parents and children made no-sew blankets to be used during their snuggly family reading time and picked out a book to take home.

Read Aloud West Virginia offers the Snuggle and Read program with the generous support of private and public partners in the local county chapters. Toyota Motor Manufacturing of West Virginia, Constellium, Pocahontas County Schools, and the state Title One program, are among the groups who have contributed funds, books and/or materials to make these events possible.

Lesley McCallister is a Read Aloud supporter, volunteer and newsletter contributor and a freelance journalist.

Photos (l-r): A Nicholas County family snuggles and reads about math; a Jackson County S&R workshop with Cheryl Miller (l); and T.C. Clemmons, a tecaher at Highland Elementary in Cabell County, reads a donated book with a student (photo courtesy of Sholten Singer/The Herald-Dispatch).

A creative upcycling endeavor. Faculty and students worked together to turn outdated books into a festive literary holiday book tree.

Library wake up: a makeover draws in teens

by BooksReading

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By Nikki Moses

It was lonely in Buckhannon-Upshur High School’s library when Angie Westfall became the media specialist there. Few students were dropping in

and fewer were checking out books. “How can I change this?” she wondered.

Westfall began by talking with students and listening carefully to their answers. She partnered with the West Virginia Library Commission. She culled library shelves of outdated books and began replacing them with volumes popular with teens. She decided to think like a marketer and she made visiting the library fun. At the end of her first year, a remarkable total of 1,340 books had been checked out.

West Virginia Library Commission

Angie Westfall is quick to say that she could not have done this alone. The staff of the Library Commission consulted with her on pulling outdated books from the shelves, and they established an interlibrary loan system.

And what happened to the old books? Westfall, students and faculty worked together to build Christmas “book trees.” One was six feet tall and was built with more than 1,000 volumes. Artistic students took the most battered and created book art from them. Old magazines became decorative snowflakes.

“We up-cycled,” she said. “The students loved it.”

Theme of the Month

Westfall uses a theme every month to pique student interest. October’s theme centered on murder, mayhem and mystery. November’s themes included hunting and fishing, cooking, family and politics. She uses props like stuffed bear heads to create interest, and she displays pertinent literature prominently.

“I try to get students in, and I ask them what they are interested in. Then I say, ‘I have a book about that.’”

Thinking like a marketer

Westfall and other teachers create displays in the library, and she puts magazines in wall racks at the back so they are highly visible and so that students have to walk through the library. She displays books in key spots “like Wal-Mart displays things on the shelves’ end caps,” she explained.

Her library might be the only one in the state where, during October, it looked like a crime scene. She used tape to create the outline of a body; students streamed in to pose and take “selfies.” Another time she had funny glasses, mustaches and hats for another round of selfies.

“Kids come in, and then they bring their friends,” she said.

Wait. There’s more!

West Virginia authors Bill Lepp and Traci Loudin presented workshops in the library. Any interested student was welcome to attend.

Angie takes her students to nearby Wesleyan College so they can experience and become comfortable with a college library. She alerts the public library that students are working on particular projects so they can prepare.

And always there is her listening ear. “Why do you come to the library? What do you like about it?” she asks.”

She summarized, “If I can get them in, maybe I can get a book in their hands.”

Nikki Moses is the former editor of the Read Aloud newsletter and a board member. She is an active volunteer in the Charleston community.

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A creative upcycling endeavor. Faculty and students worked together to turn outdated books into a festive literary holiday book tree.
A creative upcycling endeavor. Faculty and students worked together to turn outdated books into a festive literary holiday book tree.
Buckhannon-Upshur librarian Angie Westfall (pictured here with author and story-teller Bill Lep) is drawing students in to the high school's library by appealing to their interests.
Buckhannon-Upshur librarian Angie Westfall (pictured here with author and story-teller Bill Lep) is drawing students in to the high school’s library by appealing to their interests.
Westfall poses with WV native Tracy Loudin in front of a “Welcome Home” sign made for the author’s workshop visit.
Westfall poses with WV native Tracy Loudin in front of a “Welcome Home” sign made for the author’s workshop visit.
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Nickell Foundation supports summer reading in Greenbrier

by Book DistributionChaptersEventsNewsSupporters

A $5,000 grant from the Mary B. Nickell Foundation brings Read Aloud one step closer to full funding of a summer reading initiative in Greenbrier County.

The pilot program is modeled after a longitudinal study by literacy researchers Richard Allington and Anne McGill-Franzen. The University of Tennessee education professors found that providing self-selected books for summer reading was as beneficial to reading achievement as summer school. Read Aloud will work with the Greenbrier County Campaign for Grade Level Reading to implement the program at Crichton Elementary.

“These funds, along with a grant of $3,000 from Greenbrier County’s Hollowell Foundation, bring us much closer to our goal of $10,000 for full implementation in all grades at the school,” said Lynn Kessler, Communications and Development Director for Read Aloud. “We’re extremely grateful to both the Nickell and Hollowell Foundations for their votes of confidence in this project.”

The Mary B. Nickell Foundation administers funds entrusted to it for the promotion of the arts and for educational purposes to encourage the development and appreciation of the arts and for the promotion of the happiness and well-being of the community centered in and around Greenbrier County.

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Roane County community engagement funded by The Education Alliance

by ChaptersEventsNewsSupportersVolunteer Readers

A grant from The Education Alliance enabled Read Aloud WV to host two fall kick-off events designed to engage new community volunteers in the The-Education-Alliance Logoorganization’s Roane County program.

The funding was provided through the Education Powers Tomorrow campaign, an initiative of the Alliance supported by funding from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation. The campaign encourages community members to mentor, read to students or to become involved in local education in various ways.

“We all know the proverb, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’ and what an essential role each member of a community has to play in the growth and development of its young people,” said Roane County Read Aloud Chair Margaret Goffreda.  “The grants provided organizations like ours the connections to promote a greater understanding and support within our community for a stronger education system.”

The Education Alliance is a statewide nonprofit organization which operates programs and advances policies to improve achievement by public school students in West Virginia. For more information, visit www.powereducationwv.com, or contact the Alliance at 1-866-314-KIDS or powereducationwv@educationalliance.org.

 

Amy Merrill

Marion County board member recognized for efforts to promote literacy

by ChaptersNewsReading

What does Amy Merrill, a third grade teacher in Fairmont and a Marion County Read Aloud board member, have in common with 29 other Amy Merrillindividuals from places like Nigeria, Haiti, Spain, New York, Canada, Nepal, California, and India? The answer is that she, like them, was recognized in September in the International Literacy Association’s “30 Under 30” list as an innovative young leader helping to transform literacy world-wide.

The International Literacy Association (ILA) is a global advocacy and membership organization dedicated to advancing literacy for all.  Its inaugural “30 Under 30” list represents 13 countries, according to the ILA’s press release, with each honoree creating and implementing an initiative that “directly improved the quality of literacy instruction or … increased access to literacy tools.”

In addition to her classroom work, Merrill coaches a Lego robotics team, and helps coordinate projects like keeping “Little Free Libraries” stocked with books, providing large print books to nursing homes, and giving gift bags to children admitted to hospital cancer units.  While she only recently joined the board of Marion County Read Aloud, she is in her third term on the Marion County Reading Council, and is a member of the West Virginia Reading Association Executive Board.

Merrill is humbled by her nomination, but passionate about literacy, which comes through clearly in everything she does.  Aletta Moffett, Marion County Read Aloud chapter president, noted that, while she has not yet had the opportunity to work much with Merrill, she is “very impressed with her.  I see [her recognition] as a sign of good things to come.”

Congratulations, Amy! To read the article in the September/October issue of Literacy Today featuring all 30 honorees, visit www.literacyworldwide.org/30under30.