What is Mary Jan doing?!

MWFB staff is grateful for their fearless leader! In December we celebrated Mary Jan's birthday with some unique festivities. If you can guess what she is doing, email MWFB and you will be entered into a raffle for a special prize!    

Preschool Program Coordinator Monica Farmer and Family Literacy Specialist Rita Olsen

THANK YOU to the Ensign-Taylor-Lewnes Family who "adopted" Make Way For Books as the recipient of their holiday giving project last December.

Each year the Ensign-Taylor-Lewnes combine their charitable resources as a family to jointly support a local cause. Family member, Tara King-Taylor, a MWFB Board member and mother of 16 month-old Noah, is acutely aware of the importance of early childhood literacy and encouraged her family to choose Make Way for Books as their project. Thank you again to Tara and to her entire family for their wonderful support - and also thanks to Hammel, Beale and Lauer, P.C.C., where Tara is a CPA, for making it possible for Tara to serve on the Board of MWFB!      

Check out these inspiring stories of kids in our community helping other kids that Make Way for Books serves.  

THIRD-graders Raise $998 in a Read-A-Thon for MWFB     

 
"Can you imagine your life without books?" asked MWFB Assistant  Director Jenny Volpe. The third graders at Ventana Vista Elementary School began to shake their heads No! vigorously back and forth. They couldn't conceive of not having the chance to read books. Hands shot up to express their opinions about why books have been such an important part of their lives. In fact, the students were able to recount their favorite stories from the time they were toddlers, rattling off books such as No David! and Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus that are still hits today with the young children that MWFB serves. According to one of the third-graders, "When my dad read to me before bed each night, that was my favorite time when I was little."    

The students at Ventana Vista decided to have a Read-A-Thon and chose to donate the proceeds to Make Way for Books so that all young children have access to great books. These children have been joyfully interacting with books since they were very young and wanted to share that gift with those who are less fortunate. In light of the new Move On When Reading law that will take effect in the 2013-14 school year, it is especially poignant that these third graders are choosing to read to help young children. Starting in the 2013-14 school year, third graders who are not reading at grade level will be retained. There is a reading crisis in our community and across the state as 22,000 third graders are at risk of being held back.  

Here at Make Way for Books we know that it is by starting early that a real difference can be made--research shows that providing quality early literacy opportunities helps set children up for success so that they will be ready to learn to read when they arrive at kindergarten. Through the reading efforts and generous donations made by the sponsors of these third graders more children will be given the opportunity to develop the reading readiness skills they need to succeed, and therefore, will be less likely to be retained when they get to third grade.