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Fall Newsletter:  October 15, 2012

 

   The Early Literacy Resource Center for Southern Arizona

Special Events 

Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Foundation Grant Award Ceremony 

 

On Friday, September 14th, MWFB attended the grant award ceremony of the Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Foundation. MWFB is honored to partner with CTGMF and will expand the Promoting Peace through Picture Books Project as a result of the foundation's generous funding. 

Board and Staff Update 
 
MWFB Welcomes New Board & Staff Members!  
  
Four amazing women recently joined the MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS' team.
Carol Paradise-Tornow, Board Member
Carol Paradise-Tornow, Ph.D. is a retired Organizational Psychologist/Planning Consultant. She has extensive experience in organizational planning and leadership consultation and training. She was also a professor at the University of North Carolina--Greensboro. Currently Carol is a Forest Service Volunteer as well as an avid Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalist. A few of us at MWFB have had the pleasure of experiencing one of her hikes. MWFB has already benefited greatly from Carol's expertise in planning and organizational change. In fact, she served as the midwife for the birth of our new strategic plan! 
Tara King-Taylor, Board Member
Tara King-Taylor is a C.P.A. at Hammel, Beal & Lauer, P.C. She holds master's degrees in accounting and criminal justice and a bachelor's degree in public administration. As the mother of a toddler, Tara knows first-hand that early education is one of the most important factors in setting the course for one's life. Tara serves on the Planned Giving Roundtable of Southern Arizona and as a Planned Giving Advisory Council Member for the Interfaith Community Services. MWFB is fortunate that she is willing to share her time and expertise in support of our mission.  
Rebecca Rodgers-Kombol, Development Director, and Kristina Burdine, Financial Manager, love coming to work each day(and hugging Knuffle Bunny!).
Rebecca Rodgers-Kombol is embracing the sun after moving from the Pacific Northwest where she served as director of development and community relations for Washington's premier mental health center. Her work in nonprofit management and development has taken her all over the country from her native Southeast to St. Louis to Chicago and then Seattle. MWFB is a natural fit for Rebecca's love of books her firm belief that MWFB is not just readying children to learn, but actually changing their lives.

MWFB finances are in good hands with Kristina Burdine, who came to MWFB with an M.B.A. and more than 15 years of finance experience in the business and nonprofit sectors. Seven years ago, Kristina drove 28 hours and 1,676 miles from her native Minnesota to make Tucson her home. Passionate about helping others, she has volunteered more than 2,000 hours since moving here. Can you tell she loves numbers?! Kristina also loves books, especially Mo Willem's Knuffle Bunny trilogy. When she walked in and saw two huge Knuffle Bunnies sitting in the lobby, Kristina decided to join the MWFB team!  

 

Here's Looking At You 
days of caring 2012
Days of Caring Volunteers from IBM helped MWFB assemble more than 1,500 Early Literacy Kits!
audrey junior league thank you
Super Star Storytime Volunteer Audrey Cione brought over volunteers from the Junior League to help create Book MAGIC materials. Many thanks to Audrey and the fantastic women from The Junior League of Tucson!


Special Appreciation

 

THANK YOU 
 
$200 Plus Donations
(Received June 1 -October 1) 

 

Individuals

 

Angela Gardner 

 

Kori McClain-Lee 

 

Jack Peterson
Vicki Seppala

 

Community 
 

Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Foundation

$16,500

Community Foundation for Southern Arizona 

$75,000

Compass Bank 

$3,000

Elliot Spalding Foundation

$6,500

First Things First  

$124,741

Libraries Limited 

$498

Target Foundation  

$4,000

Tucson Children's Museum 

$250

United Way Board Allocation

$1,500

United Way Diamond Fund

$8,332

United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona 

$11,920



In-Kind
(Received Jun 1 - October 1)  
Paul and Mary Jan Bancroft 
Literacy Connects/Reading Seed   
Professional Computer Solutions
St. Thomas the Apostle Parish  
Emma Howard, Desert Christian School 

 

 

 
2/3
of students who cannot read proficiently by fourth grade end up in jail or on welfare.
-U.S. Department of Justice

MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS is working hard to change this statistic. Please help us with your gift.

 

Three ways to give:

 

Click "Donate Now" below to donate online.  

 

Call 520-721-2334 to make your gift by credit card.

 

Or, mail your check to MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS, 3955 E. Fort Lowell, Suite 114, Tucson, AZ 85712. 

 

Join Mailing List

Donate Now! 

 

Greetings! 

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This fall finds MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS alive and well! Unfortunately, over the summer we had to bid farewell to our dear Abby Smith who has served as office manager extraordinaire for the past three years. She is pursuing a master's degree in speech pathology at University of Texas. Abby's dedication, competence, and sincere heart will not be forgotten. She will be greatly missed.

 

I want to extend a warm welcome to two new staff members as well as two new board members! Rebecca Rodgers-Kombol is our new development director. Kristina Burdine is our financial manager. Carol Paradise-Tornow and Tara King-Taylor are our two new board members. Be sure to read all about these new folks on the MWFB team.

 

I am very pleased to announce that we have recently completed a new strategic plan that charts our course for the next three to five years. The development process was led by Carol Tornow, Ph.D. who volunteered her time and offered her vast work experience in guiding us. We interviewed community partners, elicited Board input, and held a staff retreat to gather as much information as possible. We identified five challenges and established priorities and goals to direct our work. The challenges are as follows:

1)     MWFB ability to meet the growing need for early literacy services.

2)     Strategically positioning MWFB within the larger community of partners and funders.

3)     Continuing to meet the rising expectations of funders and partners.

4)     Raising awareness regarding the importance of early literacy as well as the roll and contribution of MWFB.

5)     Ensuring the long-term financial stability of MWFB.

The strategic plan is a fluid document. If you have any thoughts or comments, please be sure to let us know.

 

Make Way for Books will celebrate its 15th anniversary next spring. We have scheduled a quincea�era gala on Friday, March 22, 2013 at the historic Arizona Inn. Please save the date so you can celebrate with us!!

 

 

Sincerely,

 mary jan's signature

 P.S. Many thanks to all of our supporters.  Our new fiscal year began on July 1, and if you would like to help us kick off the fall, please make a  donation!  


STORYTIME VOLUNTEERS  

 
"Can you see its foot peaking out? What
do you think it is?" asks storytime vmystery bagolunteer John Ross. The preschoolers at Young Explorers are always excited when John arrives for his storytime with a mystery bag in hand. John, and other storytime volunteers, are using the mystery bags during their weekly center visits. The mystery bags help build suspense and have children bubbling over with enthusiasm trying to guess which puppet and what book might be hidden in the bag.The MWFB Storytime Volunteer Program continues to make a tremendous impact at child-care centers and preschools throughout Tucson. Because of our amazing volunteers, more than 800 children are being read to on a weekly basis! These children are joyfully interacting with books and are being given the opportunity to develop the reading readiness skills they need to succeed when they get to kindergarten.   

John Ross
Storytime Reader John Ross with a llama mystery bag
  Interested in Storytime volunteering?  Visit the volunteer page on our website.  
 
VounteersFamily Literacy at a Glance 

MWFB PARTNERS WITH TOPS 
  

MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS is excited to announce a new family literacy partnership with Teen Outreach Pregnancy Services (TOPS). This fall, MWFB tailored two of its successful family literacy programs to specifically meet the needs of teen parents with infants and toddlers. TOPS instructors will implement the MWFB Raising A Reader (RAR) and Book MAGIC programs with the parents they serve. Both of these programs are designed to truly empower parents to start their children on a path to literacy. Parents gain the confidence to be their child's first best teacher and children are exposed to great books.

Natalia TOPS
Family Literacy Coordinator Natalia Phillips-Portillo facilitates a  training session with TOPS instructors.

The MWFB literacy programs are integrated into weekly sessions that parents attend with their young children at TOPS. Parents receive fun and easy tips on how to help their infants and toddlers develop early literacy skills. Families develop a joyful habit of reading together.  

 
If you want to learn more about our Family Literacy programs please contact Natalia Phillips-Portillo at 520-721-2334.

Preschool Program at a Glance 

 

Promoting Peace Through Picture Books Project

Presented State-wide
 
August 20th wa
s
Early Literacy Consultant April Turner speaks passionately about the impact that the Peace Project has made on children and teachers for the past two years.
an important day for the MWFB Preschool Team. Monica Farmer, Julie Friberg, April Turner, Jenny Volpe, and Mary Jan Bancroft presented the highly successful and innovative Promoting Peace through Picture Books Project at a state-wide conference in Phoenix. The Early Childhood Summit: 2012 Keys to School Readiness conference was hosted by First Things First and had nearly 1,000 attendees from across the state.

 

The MWFB breakout session room was packed to the brim and the presentation was a tremendous success. According to an early childhood administrator in Phoenix who attended the MWFB session, "This program is amazing and should be available to child-care centers throughout the state." 
Executive Director Mary Jan Bancroft and Assistant Director Jenny Volpe prepare to present at the First Things First conference. And, yes they are wearing dog and cat ears! Jenny and Mary Jan performed a beloved Peace Project story called Cat and Dog at the end of the MWFB conference session.
To learn more about the Promoting Peace through Picture Books Project, contact Monica Farmer, the MWFB Preschool Program Coordinator, at [email protected] 

   

Story Town Coming Soon! 
MJ & Kristina Story Town painting
Mary Jan and Kristina paint a new backdrop for the MWFB story performance of A Visitor for Bear.

Story Town is just around the corner! MAKE WAY FOR BOOKS and the Pima County Public Library will host the Ninth Annual Story Town Family Literacy Festival on Saturday, November 3rd in Jacome Plaza.

Help us spread the word about this wonderful community event. Stories will be performed throughout the festival. Children will have the chance to see many of their favorite characters in costume.
story town parade
Character parade at Story Town!
kids listening story town
Children listen to stories on the grass in front of the library.