NEWSLETTER
Summer Reading Buddies Edition - Volume 1
Summer Reading Buddies

Summer Reading Buddies got off to a great start last week.  

573 children attended our first week and have gotten a head start on their summer reading assignments with the help of 202 volunteer mentors. 

Thank you to the David Schildwachter, President of the Rotary Club of Yonkers, Greg Arcaro from Community Planning Council of YonkersDr. Iris Pagan, Executive Director of the Westchester County Youth Bureau and Karen Blumenthal and friends for being our first Guest Readers!

You can still join us! 
Yonkers Riverfront Library 
July 8th to August 13th
Tuesdays & Wednesdays 
10:00 am to 12:00 pm 
Mount Vernon Public Library 
July 10th to August 14th
Thursdays 
11:00 am to 1:00 pm

 
To sign up or get more information please call 
Randee Ginsberg at 914-423-5009 or
 




 
In This Issue

Thank you to Entergy for their continued support of our Intergenerational Literacy Programs!



Thank You! and Welcome!
 
We want to say thank you to Cynthia Samwick, our intern from Fordham University who has been with us this past year.  We wish her luck in all her future plans and thank her for all her contributions to our programs over the past year.  
 
 
  
 
We would also like to welcome Marikay Capasso, 
our new intern from Sarah Lawrence College, who 
will be working with us and has already jumped in
to help at Summer Reading Buddies.


New Report Supports Reading from Infancy and Open Book
 
The American Academy of Pediatrics released a new policy statement supporting reading aloud from infancy.  Reach Out and Read is part of an early literacy partnership that has formed with other like minded organizations.  
 
 
OPEN BOOK, JCY-Westchester Community Partners' early childhood literacy program, collaborates with the national Reach Out and Read organization.
 
A visit to the doctor can be scary for a child, but it can also be a comfortable and pleasant experience that can promote good healthcare routines that will last a lifetime.  In order to make a visit to the pediatrician more enjoyable, the OPEN BOOK program operates at The Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, NY, and White Plains Hospital in White Plains NY.
 
As a "Prescription for Literacy" the OPEN BOOK program sends trained volunteers to greet the children as they come in to the clinic.  They show the child the books they can choose from and offer to help pick out an age appropriate book or activity to work on while they wait.  The volunteer might read a story, or let the child read one to them!  They might choose a coloring page, crossword puzzle or a word search. The OPEN BOOK volunteer is there to gently introduce literacy into the clinic experience and the pediatrician will reinforce the message by giving each child a free book, at a well child visit, to take home.
 
The OPEN BOOK program operates weekdays year round.
 
If you are interested in more information about the program or being a volunteer, contact:
Randee Ginsberg at 914-423-5009 or email at [email protected]
 
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