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Springtime News From
San Francisco and Alameda Counties
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Greetings!
Spring is in the air, and here at Raising A Reader, we're excited about Mothers, New Team Members, Brains and Kids with Blue Bags! Read on to find out how you and your friends and co-workers can get involved with Raising A Reader this Spring!
Shout Out to Mothers! With Mother's Day coming up in May, we've been thinking of all the Moms in our lives - sometimes our own, sometimes someone else's. There are the ones who read with us, the ones who called us at just the right time, and the ones who insisted that we keep on going when we were tired and ready to give up. Here's your chance to honor a mom and pay it forward with a donation to Raising A Reader. Get involved with our Mother's Day Campaign!
You can launch a Mother's Day Campaign at your workplace, your book group, your sorority or in your family. Through the month of May, Raising A Reader supporters will be hosting book drives, having Read-Ins at work to share their favorite children's books, and taking our campaign viral by sending Mother's Day cards via our online portal to all the mothers who've made a difference in their lives.
Help us raise $20,000 in May to bring great books and joyful reading time to 200 Bay Area families with young children. To learn more about the campaign and get involved, visit: http://www.give.rarbayarea.org/.
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Serve And Return Builds Brains!
What a great time for early childhood literacy! Last week, Dr. Jack D. Shonkoff, the author of Neurons to Neighborhoods and the Director of the  Center for the Developing Child at Harvard University spoke to business and community leaders at the Massachusetts Early Learning Summit. Dr. Shonkoff validated once again the critical importance of parent-child interaction for effective brain development, which leads to both academic success, greater capacity for self-regulation, and ongoing life success. Watch this great short video created by the Center and the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, which validates our model of providing opportunities and support for caring adults to practice the "serve and return" model of interactive book sharing.
Also, check out the great piece by Tina Rosenberg about The Power of Talking To Your Baby in the New York Times. Raising A Reader supporters know that the rich discussion that happens over great children's books is the foundation for so much learning, and it's great to see that the rest of the world is hearing about what works!
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New Staff and Board
We are thrilled to welcome board and staff members to the Raising A Reader team!
Board Members
Juliet Clothier Rikess has over 25 years of experience working with individual and businesses, including a five-and-a-half year tenure as CFO of United Way of the Bay Area, and serving as Controller, Business Analyst, and Director of Operations in multiple industries prior to that. Ms. Clothier Rikess is a founding member of the Non-Profit Finance Forum, a networking and educational group for non-profit finance leadership, and a member of the Institute of Management Accountants and the Financial Women's Association. She holds a BA in Business Management, with honors, from Dominican University, as well as an MBA from Sonoma State University.
"I'm thrilled to be joining the Board of Raising A Reader, because some of our most lasting memories of love from childhood are the moments when we shared a book with a special person in our life."Laura  Zellerbach is a native San Franciscan who has just returned to the Bay Area after living and working in New York City and South Africa for the past eight years. She has a B.A. in Psychology from Barnard College and a Masters of Science in Education from Bank Street College of Education. Her graduate degree is in Infant and Family Development and Early Intervention, and Laura is a certified teacher for children and newborn through second grade. She has worked extensively with infants through four-year-olds and their families in many different settings.
"I'm honored to be a part of an organization that helps so many important aspects of young children's lives."
Please read about our new staff members here.
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Celebrating Success with Blue BagsFor Raising A Reader, spring means the start of Blue Bag Season! Raising A Reader schools and families are gearing up for over 30 Blue Bag Events throughout San Francisco and Alameda Counties over the next few months.
Blue Bag events celebrate children's success with bringing books home and returning them to school each week in the red bag. These celebrations provide a connection to the public library where families have access to a lifetime supply of great books and resources.
Raising a Reader children who have been rotating the red bags all year have the opportunity to receive a blue bag to keep and use at their local public library for years to come. You can see from the look on our young friend's face here how much the kids love it!
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STAY CONNECTED
 
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