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Follow us on Twitter.
Find us on Facebook.
Click here to view the Reach Out and Read Massachusetts Facebook Page
Click here to make a tax-deductible contribution to Reach Out and Read.
Our thanks to a few of our generous donors:
Carla Romney and Stuart Beard of Medfield for their contribution to the Hillside Health Center in memory of Faith Beard.
Dr. Ricardo Lewitus, of Marlboro Pediatrics.
Their contributions will be leveraged through Scholastic to help keep our Sites' shelves full.
And particular thanks to Scholastic, who, in the face of the complete loss of our National funding, has donated the necessary books,
over 1,000,000 in all, for Reach Out and Read Sites across the country. |
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Notes from National
Whoopi Goldberg Visits Reach Out and Read-And Mentions Us on The View
The actress and television host helps Scholastic launch its "One Million Bookprints for One Million Books" campaign to support Reach Out and Read. Learn more here--and watch Whoopi reading aloud to children at Bellvue Hospital's Pediatric clinic.
Reach Out and Read to offer webinars supporting the Online CME Course! In an effort to encourage more Reach Out and Read providers and staff to complete the Online CME Course, we are now offering webinars to walk Site Coordinators through everything they need to know about the online CME course. We hope Site Coordinators will leave the webinar with a comprehensive understanding of the online course, which they can then share with their colleagues- and encourage them to complete it. |
Thank you!
Barnes & Noble in Burlington, for choosing Reach Out and Read as the recipient of their book drive for the second year in a row. Dee Mandolese, the energetic, enthusiastic, community services manager, is aiming to collect 4000 brand new books for Reach Out and Read programs in the neighboring towns of Lowell, Medford and Chelmsford.
The Holliston Lions Club and the Holliston Leos, under the guidance of Andy Porter, for once again holding their holiday book drive to benefit Reach Out and Read Sites in the Framingham area. They have been hosting a book drive for many years and their goal this year is 1000 books!
Longtime supporter Roffi Salon and Day Spa of Boston for running a book drive among their patrons.
Sarah Wenstrom of Norwood for organizing an online DK book drive at her workplace, mottmacinc in Westwood.
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Reach Out and Read New England
Massachusetts Newsletter
Winter 2011
220 Programs Providing 333,420 books yearly To 192,154 MA children Our newsletter has information for providers, coordinators, volunteers, and partners ... so be sure to forward it to your pediatric and family practice staff as well as to friends, volunteers and supporters. Send us email addresses and we'll make sure they automatically receive our quarterly newsletter! |
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Dear Reach Out and Read Colleagues,
With many thanks for all that you do,
Alison
Alison Corning Clarke, MA, MSW
Massachusetts Programs Director
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Online CME Course:
A Reach Out and Read Requirement
Congratulations to Pediatric Associates of Fall River!
With strong leadership from Coordinator Kathi Mello Chase, and the support of Medical Consultant Dr. Jean Leimert, PA of Fall River recently made use of holiday-related cancellations to find time for 11 staff members to complete the Reach Out and Read online CME Course! This sets a record--and a challenge to other Sites to match or beat it!
A focus on training re-energizes a Site. As part of an overall focus on quality, training reminds providers of all the components of Reach Out and Read. 
From modeling reading aloud and using the book as part of developmental surveillance, through promoting library use and enhancing literacy-rich waiting rooms--Reach Out and Read at your Site can only be as excellent as each component.
Our funders and our families rely on you ... coordinators and providers alike ... to advance the cause of pre-school readiness through your own everyday excellence. Thank you for making your Reach Out and Read program all it can be.
On-Site Coordinators will soon receive an invitation to a conference call/webinar that will help answer questions about the provider training course; as always, please feel free to call your Regional Coordinator. |
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HELPING YOU FUNDRAISE
Adopt-A-Site Materials available here!
Just in time for holiday giving, Reach Out and Read New England has created an effective marketing tool to help Reach Out and Read Sites in Massachusetts and across New England solicit funds from organizations and businesses within their communities. As mentioned in recent newsletters, organizations such as the Girl Scouts and the Lions Club, as well as businesses such as the Southworth Company, ExhibitSource, and Areva have recently run book drives and made cash contributions for book purchases to Massachusetts Sites.
- To help you get started, we've created a double-sided information sheet to guide you through the Adopt-A-Site process, along with other suggestions for community outreach ideas.
- Start by sending a personalized letter to your potential donor; just insert your health center's name and site-specific information, and mail along with the brochure available at the link above.
- The brochure is also editable, so all you have to do is include your Site's name, address, and the number of children your Reach Out and Read Program serves.
All three materials are included in the link, and can be edited with Microsoft Publisher. In January, we will hold three Webinars to better familiarize you with the Adopt-A-Site materials and to answer questions. Stay tuned for an email about the dates and times! And if you have any other questions, feel free to contact your regional coordinator: Laurie, Heather, Nora or Alison. |
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Legislative Visits
With recent cuts in federal funding, Reach Out and Read Massachusetts was especially grateful this year for the support of our legislators on Beacon Hill. In Western Massachusetts, we were delighted to have the opportunity to personally thank two of our key supporters, Representative Stephen Kulik (D-Worthington) and Senator Stephen Brewer (D-Barre), both of whom demonstrated an impressive knack for dialogic reading!
In October, Representative Kulik, Vice-Chair of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, read aloud to children at Baystate Medical Practices in South Deerfield.
In November, Senator Brewer, Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, visited the Winchendon Health Center and read aloud to a group of animated young children.
Doctors and nurses from both practices were on hand to personally thank the legislators for their support and to discuss the important role Reach Out and Read plays in preparing children for success in school.
In December, Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz (D-Boston), Chair of the Joint Committee on Education, visited the Martha Eliot Community Health Center in Jamaica Plain. Senator Chang-Diaz was welcomed by a sign created by the Center's young patients, and read aloud to an enthusiastic audience before meeting with Center staff and their partners from Children's Hospital.
Our thanks to Senators Brewer and Chang-Diaz, and Representative Kulik, as well as to all of the legislators across the state who continue to support the Reach Out and Read program. |
Over 150 attend Journey to Literacy Conference
On November 30th, Reach Out and Read Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care presented the second Journey to Literacy Begins at Birth conference, this one focusing on children growing up as dual language learners. Over 150 early childcare providers, home visitors, early intervention specialists, and Reach Out and Read participants met at Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill to hear Reach Out and Read's Massachusetts Medical Director, Marilyn Augustyn, MD; Leyendo Juntos Program Advsor, Mariana Glusman, MD; and National Medical Director Perri Klass, MD, speak about risks and advantages in the early literacy development of bilingual children, including the latest research on brain development.
Keynote speaker, Susana Carella, MA MOM Congress Representative, currently of Thomas E. Lee Partners, Boston, highlighted several of the Conference themes, in particular the importance of empowering parents to participate in their children's education, and encouraging them to speak to their children in their primary language.
Participants benefited from the hands-on learning provided by staff from Raising a Reader Massachusetts, who presented aspects of their parent engagement work in Lawrence, Lowell, Brockton, Chelsea and other areas of Massachusetts with high concentrations of families speaking languages such as Khmer, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish. The fully-subscribed conference also heard from Representative Alice Hanlon Peisch and Senator Stephen Baddour. Another conference on the same theme is planned for Brockton in March or April, 2012; email alison.clarke@reachoutandread.org for more information. |
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Kids Helping Kids
It would be difficult for us at Reach Out and Read to help ensure that our sites have the books they need to create literacy-rich waiting rooms, and to distribute to siblings and sick children, if it weren't for the wonderful volunteers who coordinate book drives and keep us outfitted in gently used books. The following are a few of the many young people who have donated their time to share their love of books and reading.
Andrew Cowan and Jimmy Casey, both from Longmeadow, conducted a hugely successful book drive, collecting nearly 1,000 books for Reach Out and Read in Western Massachusetts. Our heartfelt thanks go out to these two high school students for their hard  work helping to ensure that local children have the books that will help them grow into successful students. The Cowans are longtime supporters of Reach Out and Read. Andrew's brother Ben, now a college freshman, coordinated three book drives for the program while in high school. And their grandmother, Pat Cowan, was originally a nurse at the Boston Medical Center who volunteered for Reach Out and Read and went on to join the staff. It is wonderful to see the long tradition of support for Massachusetts children being carried on by the next generation of Cowans. Thank you!  Adam Gordon collected 800 books for Reach out and Read by collecting books from friends and family as a Bar Mitzvah project during October and November. Books were delivered to Hyde Park Pediatrics and Mattapan Community Health Center.  Nikhil Kothari and students at the Horace Mann school in Newton participated in a new book drive that benefited Martha Eliot Community Health Center in Jamaica Plain. Thanks to Dr. Lara Kothari and Nikhil's brother Kobin for their help!
Jen Swindon and her Westwood Girl Scout troop donated and delivered 250 books to Roslindale Community Health Center. Jeanine Esperne, a parent of a child at the Fay School in Southboro, is just wrapping up her first Reach Out and Read book drive. The books collected at the school will go to Southboro Medical Pediatrics in Framingham. Laura Guiney and her son's kindergarten class at Foxboro Regional Charter School hosted a book drive and donated the books to Family Medicine Associates in South Attleboro. For the second year in a row, Tyler Rodgers collected books at his birthday party for Reach Out and Read at Marlboro Pediatrics. Thanks to Tyler and his mom Danyel! |
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Reading is Power!
Reach Out and Read was proud to participate in "Reading is Power," a fun-filled family literacy event held at the Holyoke Children's Museum this fall. Organized by representatives from Pathways to Family Success, Head Start, and the Coordinated Family and Community Engagement Program, the event welcomed close to 1,000 children and their parents.
 Dr. Stephanie Billings, a Reach Out and Read provider from the Holyoke Health Center, generously volunteered her time and "prescribed" hundreds of free books to children over the course of the afternoon. Dr. Billings and Western Massachusetts Coordinator Laurie Flynn set up shop in the museum's health exhibit. It was the perfect place to engage parents in a quick conversation about the importance of reading aloud to their children.
Reach Out and Read was one of fifteen local educational and health organizations providing interactive activities for "Reading is Power" participants. In the end, more than 1,000 free books of all different reading levels were distributed, and 550 lucky participants received free tickets to ride on the Museum's merry-go-round. Our thanks to the event sponsors for including us in this special day and to Dr. Billings for volunteering precious free time to make it a success.
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