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In memory of Jim Trelease, the inspiration for Read Aloud West Virginia

by PartnersSupporters

By Mary Kay Bond

On July 28th, I lost a friend and mentor who changed my life when Jim Trelease, the author of The Read Aloud Handbook and inspiration for Read Aloud West Virginia, passed away. He changed the lives of countless others in West Virginia and throughout this country – and even the world. As I read the email from his wife Susan, I felt the way many of us do when we lose someone. It was as if a giant tree had fallen. Why hadn’t there been physical changes in the world? It would only have been fitting because Jim was a force of nature.

Jim was one of those high energy people whose enthusiasm was infectious. He had a ready smile for everyone, a prodigious memory, and an insatiable curiosity. He also did not mince words if he felt some policy or action was wrong. Jim was a journalist and cartoonist who went into a classroom on a career day to discuss his profession. He emerged appalled by the fact that children in this pricey private school could not name a book they had recently read for pleasure. They were so stymied they began pointing to mandatory reading in textbooks. Jim left the classroom determined to do something about it and used the family vacation money to self-publish the first Read Aloud Handbook.

Short story: the book took off, and a new career was born.

Jim became an investigative reporter on education with an emphasis on childhood literacy. His journalistic background made complex research accessible to busy parents and teachers. Throughout his career he had one basic tenet: If you want to raise a reader, you need to motivate them to WANT to read. He acknowledged learning to read comes easier for some children than others but argued that those who struggle need that motivation even more. He offered practical advice for making the reading/pleasure connection for ALL children.

I first “met” Jim Trelease when I called to rent his (reel to reel!) film to show throughout Kanawha County. Shortly afterward he agreed, in a typically generous gesture, to waive his fee and address our fledgling organization while he was in town speaking to teachers. A friendship was born that continued past both our retirements. In recent years, even though he was ill, his interest in education remained constant. He lamented the learning loss he knew was going to result from online classrooms and was hopeful we would emerge from the pandemic with a greater respect and appreciation for educators.

Every visit and conversation with him was a joy – both entertaining and enlightening. He led me to read Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, and I think of that now. Surely, Jim Trelease lived an incredibly meaningful life. His passions were straightforward – his family and raising generations of avid readers. He sought to be a good steward and to leave the world a little better than he found it. Certainly, he did both. 

Thank you, dear friend, for enriching so many lives. You are sorely missed, but your legacy lives on in all those you inspired to follow your footsteps.
—

Mary Kay Bond is a founding member of Read Aloud West Virginia and longtime Executive Director who retired in December 2019.

Jennie Fitzkee (compressed)

Dollar General gives $50,000 in honor of longtime supporter Jennie Fitzkee

by DonorsNewsSupporters

By Amanda Schwartz

Photo courtesy of The Kelly Clarkson Show, NBCUniversal Syndication Studios
Jennie Fitzkee, center, is surprised by the announcement of Dollar General’s generous donation on The Kelly Clarkson Show.

When The Kelly Clarkson Show chose to celebrate preschool teacher Jennie Fitzkee ­­— a West Virginia native and longtime Read Aloud WV supporter ­—Read Aloud’s Executive Director Dawn Miller was asked to video call in to the filming as a surprise.

“Anything for Jennie Fitzkee!” she replied.

Miller was excited to be part of recognizing a dedicated supporter and local literacy champion, but had no idea there was a surprise in store. Both Fitzkee and Miller were shocked and deeply touched by Dollar General’s announcement of a $50,000 gift to Read Aloud in honor of Fitzkee and World Teacher Day.

Fitzkee became involved with Read Aloud in 2012 after the passing of her childhood friend, Read Aloud champion Candy Galyean. Fitzkee (born Jennie Lively Lytton) grew up with Galyean in Huntington, but moved to Groton, Mass., where she has been a preschool teacher for almost 40 years. When her sister sent Galyeans’s obituary in 2012, Fitzkee saw it suggested donations to Read Aloud West Virginia.

“I thought, ‘This has got to be someplace else!’” Fitzkee recalled. “I just can’t believe this! I never knew about this wonderful place.”

Fitzkee called and spoke with Read Aloud founder and then Executive Director Mary Kay Bond. They had much in common, including an inspiration, Jim Trelease, author of The Read Aloud Handbook, first published in 1979.

Eager to give back to her home state and support her friend’s legacy, Fitzkee began collecting books. She and her students and community gathered so many she and husband Steve Fitzkee rented a truck and drove them all the way from Groton, Mass. to Charleston.

After that momentous donation, Fitzkee has continued to support Read Aloud, nurtures readers through her blog “A Teacher’s Reflections,” and has contributed to this newsletter.

“This gift means so much to us,” said Executive Director Dawn Miller. “It is an acknowledgment of the lifelong value of our work to help children develop an intrinsic motivation to read, and it will help Read Aloud to stay strong and flexible, of course.

“But with this gift the Dollar General Literacy Foundation also recognizes the efforts of every volunteer, every teacher, every school coordinator, every principal, every donor ­­— every friend of Read Aloud who has contributed to the effort to help children discover joy in reading,” she said.

“On top of all that, we are touched and honored to still be part of remembering Candy Galyean, who even now plays such an important role in bringing us together in this cause.”

Over the past 28 years, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has donated more than $203 million to provide funding and resources to support literacy advancement and has helped more than 14.8 million individuals learn to read. In both 2020 and 2021, they granted funds to Read Aloud to support shipments of self-chosen books to low-income children across the Mountain state, keeping them reading through the pandemic and beyond.

Dollar General’s co-founder, J.L. Turner, was functionally illiterate and never completed a formal education. In 1993, J.L.’s grandson, Cal Turner, Jr., founded the Dollar General Literacy Foundation to honor him and support others’ educational journeys.

Dollar General and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation’s $4.5 million investment to help students, teachers, and nonprofit organizations working to support and improve youth literacy across the country includes more than $3 million in youth literacy grants from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and a new $1.45 million partnership with education nonprofit Donors Choose.

To watch the announcement and Fitzkee’s heartwarming reaction, click here.

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A beautiful partnership

by BooksSupporters

Young, autistic illustrator and her former teacher publish a picture book

By Amanda Schwartz

One day, Amee S. Neal gave her teacher at Ashton Elementary, Janet Rowe, a drawing she had made. Amee is autistic and was very shy and reserved at that time, but she loved to draw and read. She was always the Accelerated Reader of the month and year; Janet thinks she may still hold the school record today.

Janet Rowe (middle) and Amee Neal (right) with Janet’s granddaughter and book namesake, Aliera.

“I was honored she would give me drawings. I became friends with her family,” Janet said, describing via email how she taught Amee’s older sister then Amee herself. “I told her, if I ever wrote a book, I would ask her to be the illustrator.”
Janet was an elementary educator for 34 years in Mason County and retired in 2013. After retiring, she began volunteering as a Read Aloud WV classroom reader, reading to her granddaughter’s Kindergarten class and a first-grade class at Martha Elementary. During this time, she was inspired to write her own children’s book, making good on her promise to Amee years before.

“I approached Amee and her mother, Kelly, about going on an adventure to become an illustrator for a story I had written,” Janet said. “I explained, I knew nothing about being an author and getting a book published, but I was going to research it and find out. Amee was thrilled and so was her mother.”

Two years later, Janet came into some unexpected money and used it to self-publish their book – Aliera Wants to be a Monkey – through Covenant Books, Inc. The process took eight months, and both Janet and Amee were a little disappointed in the end to find out that their book would only be available to purchase online, not in stores.

Janet reads Aliera Wants to be a Monkey to granddaughter (and book namesake) Aliera’s class at Martha Elementary in Cabell County.

Even so, they persevered. Amee and Janet began visiting local schools to share their story and promote their book. “I would read the book aloud and Amee would talk about being an illustrator and draw the picture that is on the cover of our book while talking,” Janet explained. “She did a great job and got better and better.” Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to these visits, but the pair hopes to resume them next year.

In the meantime, they finished their second book! Janet is currently searching for an agent to represent them, with the hope that this book can be sold in retail stores.

“I would like Amee to be in the spotlight!” she shared. “She does many artistic pieces other than illustrations for me. She wants to use her talents to be an inspiration for others, and I would like to see our book get published so we can be partners all the way through life.”

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Parks family gathers donations for Wetzel literacy

by DonorsFundraisingSupporters

By Amanda Schwartz

September 17 was a special day in the Parks family. It was the day Cristi Parks celebrated her mother Kay Parks’ birthday before she passed. This September, Cristi felt called to do something to honor her mother’s memory, and that is how Read Aloud learned about Kay Parks.

Born and raised in Wetzel County, Kay was a force for literacy and creativity in her community. She loved to read to children at her local elementary school, and, as a gifted musician, she could often be found playing the organ at a local church or teaching a child to play the piano. Kay’s passion for serving her community lives on in her daughter, who had the idea to honor her mother by gathering donations from family members to give to a local organization that continued the work that was closest to Kay’s heart. The family has deep roots in Wetzel County, but many live out of state. Cristi hoped this might become an annual tradition to give back to their hometown around Kay’s September birthday.

Read Aloud West Virginia was selected as the organization to support because we work to instill a love of reading in children, just like Kay did. All donations directed to this project will be used in Wetzel County to continue to motivate local kids to read for fun by offering free, high quality books and magazines to children and families, with the long-term goal of connecting with new volunteers and establishing a Wetzel County Read Aloud chapter.

We are truly honored to have been chosen as the recipient of these memorial donations and are deeply touched by this new model of giving. With so many people forced to leave West Virginia in recent years, it’s heartening to meet a family dedicated to giving back to the place they come from and making it better for those that remain. This openhearted spirit bolsters our belief that by working together, across industries, counties, and communities, we can create a more literate, prosperous West Virginia.

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Readers to postpone school visits until further notice

by Parents and FamiliesSupportersVolunteer Readers

Dear Readers,

Thank you for your commitment and service to West Virginia children.  

In the interest of slowing the spread of the coronavirus, please postpone reading in schools until further notice. Please let your teacher know.

Even if you are not in a particularly high-risk group for complications from COVID-19, it is important for all of us to take every step possible to slow the spread of the infection.

Here is an excellent explanation of how cancelling gatherings before a case is confirmed will save lives:

https://www.vox.com/2020/3/10/21171481/coronavirus-us-cases-quarantine-cancellation

In addition, for the health of you, your families and your communities, here is another good story explaining how soap and water (which is plentiful) destroy this virus better than anything else (although hand sanitizer is good if soap and water are unavailable). 

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/3/11/21173187/coronavirus-covid-19-hand-washing-sanitizer-compared-soap-is-dope

We are in the process of cancelling orientations and other events through the end of March. We will assess April events as they draw nearer. 

We will post updates on our website and on Facebook and Twitter as warranted. Those sources will also be good ways to keep in touch and to share more frequent updates as we confront this challenge together.

Read Aloud is still working, still active, still getting the message out to families about the importance of reading for fun, still working on book distribution projects. We hope you will safely continue to model good reading habits for the children in your lives.

If anyone arranges a new way to share their love of books with children without risking the spread of this virus, please let us know. Putnam County Library on Thursday announced it would move as many programs as possible to Facebook Live, for example. https://twitter.com/putnamlibrarywv

This glossary of terms is very helpful: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/science/coronavirus-terms-to-know.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

If the recommended social distancing threatens to turn into social isolation and is getting you down, here is some commiseration from the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/with-the-coronavirus-hell-is-no-other-people

If you are on social media, look us up. Let’s keep our distance, but not be isolated.

If not, give us a call or email. We can chat. Maybe we will come up with a new good idea.

Thank you again, and be safe,

Dawn Miller
Executive Director

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… And the pay is great

by ReadingSupportersUncategorizedVolunteer Readers

As a (mostly) retired public servant, I am eager to resume my reading aloud with primary students this school year.

To say that the process is ‘rewarding’ is an understatement. I am often paid in hugs. While the classroom teachers with whom I have worked value my presence every week, it is the students of grades three, four and five who show their genuine appreciation.

A typical Thursday morning involves driving to the school and schlepping the three-ring binders of my prepared-and-rehearsed readings for the day. In the classroom, I place my binder(s) on a stand-up table or lectern and wait for enough silence to commence. I have never sat for a reading period. Call it the performer (aka ‘ham’) in me, if you will, but I believe it is impossible to read with engagement — and gestures — while seated. Call me ‘old school’ if you like.

Over the last few years, I have become an invited member of my county chapter of Read Aloud West Virginia, a vetted-and-authentic organization of volunteer readers….

Recollecting on my own experience as a primary student, now these many years ago, it was the teachers or community members who read aloud with my class and me that always fondly come to mind. What they did had impact. Learn about the affirming studies that show student improvement in classrooms in which a spoken reader participates in learning. And I can vouch that I am, without fail, warmly welcomed in every classroom.

Although what I read is likely not as important as how I engage students in a quality story, the expression of interest in their collective faces says it all. Afterward, it is not unusual for students to steal a hug on my way out of the classroom, often on the way to the next classroom in my schedule.

Yeah, I also have the gratification of teaching in an after-school program three afternoons a week, but it is ordinarily the weekly reading sessions that make it oh-so-easy for me to get up on a Thursday morning.

Don’t say, “I don’t have time” or “I’m too old” for reading aloud. I am 70 and work with a dozen organizations and community interests. Do the students — and yourself — a favor this school year. Read aloud.

— Robert Johnson, a reader, blogger, musician, music promoter/event producer, community activist and educational advocate, is a Read Aloud volunteer and chapter board member in Nicholas County. This is adapted from a blog post published at medium.com.

This summer, E.B. White’s niece invited me out to the farm

by BooksPartnersSupporters

E.B. White, who wrote for The New Yorker before he established himself in the childhood memories of millions with his now-classic children’s books, wrote on this typewriter, carefully kept at the family farm.
(Photo courtesy of Jennie Fitzkee)

By Jennie Fitzkee

I read aloud every day in my classroom, and weekly at the library. Picture books are a mainstay, yet reading aloud chapter books can move the world.

Are you surprised? Don’t be. Thirty years of reading Charlotte’s Web is proof, my proof. Every year former students return to be a guest reader. I don’t invite them. They want to come. Their parents pull me aside to tell me their child has become a voracious reader. Many return as high schoolers to volunteer in my class.

If I go back to when they were preschoolers in my class, glued to chapter reading, their favorite book every year was Charlotte’s Web. At the end of each school year we vote on our favorite chapter book, and the winner is always Charlotte’s Web. Always.

My public library hosted a special event, E.B. White’s grandniece speaking about her beloved grand-uncle. The librarian was beside herself to tell me.

“Jennie, she has his typewriter. She’s bringing it. And do you know that she calls him Andy? That’s E.B. White’s nickname.”

Yes, I know. I read Some Writer by Melissa Swift. If you want to know everything about E.B. White, it is the book.

I was out of town and unable to attend the event. To say that I was devastated is an understatement. Perhaps E.B. White’s grandniece would see the library poster of me reading Charlotte’s Web.

A week after the big event, the librarian said, “Jennie, E.B. White’s grandniece (Lindsay) would like to meet you. She knows about you, and has heard about how you read aloud Charlotte’s Web.”

Well, that’s about the best invitation I ever had. And so, with a note to me that was addressed, “Salutations, Jennie!” I was invited to her farm for a visit!

Lindsay’s grandfather was E.B. (Andy) White’s brother, Albert. He was the keeper of the letters and memorabilia (most went to Cornell University). He cared. Lindsay inherited her grandfather’s genes, and also much of what he kept. Albert was one of six children. His brother, Andy, was the youngest. Lindsay has the same look and expression as her grandfather in a family photo.

And there I was, standing in a room filled with E.B. White memorabilia. And, with E.B. White’s grandniece. Humbling and exciting. Words escaped me. I felt like Wilbur.

First, there was the typewriter, an Underwood, upon which Andy wrote his books. I don’t know about you, but seeing and touching that typewriter, something real and dear, was a piece of heaven for me.

Alongside is Lindsay’s first edition of Charlotte’s Web, signed to her: “To Lindsay with love from her great-uncle Andy. E.B. White.”

His wife, Katherine, was the love of his life.

“She was a strong woman,” said Lindsay. “She was older than he was, 11 years older. He adored her. His mother was a strong woman, too. She was much older when Andy was born.”

We talked a great deal about Charlotte’s Web. “Would you like to hear a recording of Andy reading the book?” Lindsay asked.

“Of course!” I said.

As we listened to the opening of the book, I found myself whispering the words I knew so well, along with Andy. Yet, I was surprised to hear how he read the story.

”I don’t read aloud the words like that at all. His voice is calm and steady. Mine is emotional.” And so I recited a few sentences aloud. Lindsay smiled.

Then she said, “Do you know it took him 17 takes to read the final chapter, The Last Day? Seventeen. He couldn’t stop crying. You see, in Charlotte’s Web, Wilbur was actually Andy, and Charlotte was his wife Katherine. He was devoted to her and adored her. She was his best friend, as Charlotte was to Wilbur. Reading that chapter aloud brought back all the memories of his wife.”

I did not know that. It makes perfect sense. E.B. White is Wilbur the pig, and his beloved wife Katherine is Charlotte the spider.

 

Jennie Fitzkee, a preschool teacher for 30 years, is originally from West Virginia, now lives in Massachusetts and is a supporter of Read Aloud West Virginia. This article is abridged from a version that first appeared on her blog, A Teacher’s Reflections.