While our children are enjoying the lazy days of summer, teachers, principals, coordinators and readers throughout West Virginia (as well as the Read Aloud staff!) are looking ahead to fall and a new school year of reading. Here is a brief rundown of enrollment procedures and what schools can expect in the coming months.
Each August (typically in the first week), RAWV sends enrollment packets to schools in participating counties. The packets consist of a cover letter, enrollment form, School Coordinator’s job description, and a stamped, addressed return envelope. It is very helpful if these are returned ASAP so readers can be recruited and placed in classrooms. There is usually a deadline of the second week of September so that is ample time, but RAWV likes to get them sooner, if possible.
Why do schools need to enroll each year? Principals and staff change from year to year. The program needs the support of the principal to be successful. RAWV wants to make sure the principal and school are committed to participation in the program each year. Also, the principal may wish to name a new school coordinator, and the enrollment form offers him/her the chance to do that.
Read Aloud Executive Director Mary Kay Bond compares the process to an insurance re-enrollment. “You need to do it once a year,” she explains.
After the enrollment form is received by the RAWV office, the school coordinator (named by the principal) receives a cover letter, a list of the previous year’s readers with their intentions about returning in the fall, and a sign-up sheet for teachers.
Coordinators then ask teachers if they want readers and the best days and times for readers to come to their respective classrooms. Coordinators then contact last year’s readers and arrange for their return! Newly trained readers are placed, as well.
“Timing is important. If readers indicate they want to return and aren’t contacted, they feel unwanted,” Bond explained. “Also, if we do not know which schools (and which classrooms in those schools) will be participating, we do not know how many readers we need. We want this to be a full-year program so students get the full benefit, and that a consistent message is sent.”
Finally, there are many advantages of enrollment:
- A consistent “commercial” for reading in the form of a dedicated volunteer who has attended a Read Aloud orientation and knows classroom expectations.
- Eligibility to participate in the Book Distribution program.
- Eligibility to receive parent education materials.
- Eligibility to borrow book trunks to supplement class libraries.
Watch your mailbox for your packet, and get ready for reading during the 2017-2018 school year!