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Welcome To Our Newest Programs!
Reliant Medical Group
Leominster
Martha's Vineyard Hospital Pediatrics
Oak Bluffs
Michael Fabrizio, MD
Pittsfield
Steward Pediatrics and Family Medicine
Watertown
UMass Memorial Health Center
Worcester
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Kirby Foundation Makes Worcester Gift for Third Year
The Kirby Foundation generously donated $5,000 to support Reach Out and Read programs in Worcester. This is the 3rd year they have given to the Central Massachusetts program. The much needed funding helps the Worcester sites with their part of the yearly book purchases for well child visits in their pediatric clinics. We are grateful! |
Sustainability Awards and Training
Making the funding case on behalf of Reach Out and Read requires that we assert with confidence that the program is being delivered with fidelity to the model. Providers' completion of the Online CME Course documents this assertion.
Therefore, starting with the Spring 2013 sustainability awards, the percent of providers that have completed the course will be taken into account when determining a program site's sustainability. |
Congratulations to Program Sites with 100% of Providers Trained!
The list of program sites with all providers trained (and frequently all staff members) continues to grow.
Family Medical and Maternal Care, Leominster
Reliant Medical Care, Leominster
Swansea Pediatric Associates,
Swansea
Holyoke Pediatric Associates,
Holyoke
Dr. Michael Fabrizio, Pittsfield
There are many more program sites that are only one or two providers short of this goal; if you are one of them, or aren't sure of your percentage, check out the thermometer on your www.myROR.org page, and move it from red to green! |
Reach Out and Read Unveils Updated Milestones of Early Literacy Development
Geared particularly for use in the exam room, the chart now includes more specific anticipatory guidance to offer parents. We also retooled the age ranges and have a new column entitled "What to Read." We encourage you to download the new chart and tack it on your exam room wall for easy reference. It's also an excellent handout for parents and other literacy partners.
We hope you find the updates helpful! |
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The 2012-2013 Scholastic catalog is now available!
By now, you should have received the latest version of the Scholastic/Reach Out and Read catalog.
We know that the children and families you serve will benefit greatly from the wide selection of high-quality children's books at prices that cannot be beat.
To view the catalog online, please click here. Enjoy! |
Reach Out and Read featured on PBS NewsHour!
Last month a segment spotlighting our program at Bellevue Hospital in New York aired on PBS! The piece truly captures the essence and impact of Reach Out and Read, and we are thrilled with this amazing national exposure. You can watch the segment here. Please feel free to share the link with your colleagues, families, and communities. |
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Reach Out and Read New England
Massachusetts Newsletter
Winter 2012
Serving 200,505 Massachusetts children
in 275 clinical locations
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Dear Reach Out and Read Colleagues,
As the newest member of the Reach Out and Read Massachusetts team, I thank all of you for tolerating my enthusiasm, for patiently teaching me the how-to's, and for making it a privilege to come to work for such a great cause. As a pediatric nurse practitioner, encouraging reading with children has been a decades-long passion of mine.
Books are a wonderful gift in all seasons for all reasons. I know you have your well-child protocol working and are including reading aloud as part of anticipatory guidance. But, as we face a season with great pressure for giving and owning "things", let's remember also to encourage books: books on tape, books in the library, books read on CD or iPod, and, most importantly, stories we tell with our voices. Children are listening to us. We need them to know how much we value their stories as well as stories in books. Reading is an acquired taste, but a love of listening to stories comes with all children.
As you reach out to children in your practices, I know you share your love and enthusiasm for books and stories. Your passion for reading is a wonderful gift you give with each book. Thank you for making such a difference to so many children.
Enjoy the season and all the good stories you will hear and tell.
Carole Ferguson, PNP
Boston Area Regional Coordinator
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Reach Out and Read and Parent Child Home Partnership Host Journey to Literacy Conference in Pittsfield
Designed to accommodate the needs of family childcare providers, our fourth co-sponsored Journey to Literacy Begins at Birth conference was held on a snowy Saturday, December 1, in Pittsfield. It was another full house and included both childcare staff and staff from provider agencies.
Anne-Marie Fitzgerald, COO of Reach Out and Read, and Carol Rubin, Massachusetts Regional Director of Parent Child Home Program, welcomed the group, followed by Commissioner Sherri Killins of the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, who stressed the need for childcare providers to encourage a love for books and reading in children, highlighting their power to make a difference in Massachusetts' preschool children's school readiness.
Attendees also appreciated hearing from Senator Ben Downing, who applauded the room full of caregivers and their importance in helping raise healthy children.
Conference Highlights
Marilyn Augustyn, MD, Reach Out and Read Massachusetts Medical Director, presented her perspective on why the audience of childcare providers play such a powerful role in the development of literacy skills in children in their care under age 5.
Other Presentations
Jean Ciborowski-Fahey, PhD, Reach Out and Read, discussed ways to build the neural pathways in the reading brain during her presentation on "The Building Blocks of Early Literacy".
Megan Lambert, MA, formerly with The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, presented "Book Bonding: Reading Picture Books with Children." She described how encouraging a child to "read the pictures" helps pre-readers learn to find the story in a book and eventually read words, too.
Linda Hughes, Cindy Rimbach, Laurie Connor and
Marianne Murphy from the Parent-Child Home Program gave four outstanding workshops on practical
ways to use children's books in group care settings and how to use everyday home items to foster language development and to tell a story.
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Berkshire County is a Bookend County!
On Friday, November 2, Western Massachusetts Regional Coordinator Laurie Flynn joined representatives from the Berkshire United Way, the Berkshire Compact for Education, and local elected officials at the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield to make two very important announcements. First, there was the exciting news that Berkshire County has become the first official Reach Out and Read "Bookend County." This means that every pediatrician in the region has now joined the fight to prepare children for success in school and in life by promoting early childhood literacy through their participation in the Reach Out and Read program.
Second, Laurie was delighted to have the opportunity to thank the Berkshire United Way for their generous grant, which will ensure that for the next year these providers will have 100 percentof the books they need to deliver the program consistently and maximize results.
Dr. Jackie Jones of Berkshire Pediatrics was also on hand to thank the United Way on behalf of all of her colleagues for this much needed funding:
"Research shows that the journey towards literacy begins at birth, and it is our responsibility as caregivers to remind families that reading to and talking with children during those first five years of life can have a profound impact on their ability to succeed in school. The Reach Out and Read model gives us the tools to do this, and Berkshire United Way has now given us the means to ensure that every child in the program will leave our offices with a book in hand.
"I would like to take this opportunity to recognize all of our Reach Out and Read practices in Berkshire County (Berkshire Pediatric Associates, Northern Berkshire Pediatrics, Macony Pediatrics, Suburban Internal Medicine, Community Health Program, East Elm Pediatrics, Dr. Michael A. Fabrizio, Dr. Brian J. Dempsey and Dr. Vicki Smith) for their participation in the program; the Berkshire United Way for their generous support; and The Berkshire Compact for Education, which together with early childhood partners and public libraries, supports the importance of reading aloud to children by sponsoring many marvelous countywide programs for children and families."
What a wonderful team! |
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Partnering with Lions Across Massachusetts
The national partnership between Reach Out and Read and Lions Clubs has had some great results here in Massachusetts. Good connections have been made with clubs from Lee to the Cape, and we look forward to more in 2013!
- Laurie Flynn met with the Lee Lions, who generously agreed to sponsor the Suburban Medical Center with a donation of funds for books.
- Carole Ferguson, Alison Corning Clarke and Heather Robinson attended the District K meeting in Marlborough, presenting to a group of almost 100 club members. They had the pleasure of meeting longtime Reach Out and Read supporter Andy Porter from the Holliston Lions. Thank you Governor Tom Kerr and District K Lions for your generous donations to Reach Out and Read program sites in your District!
- At a meeting in Weymouth, other District K donations came in from the Hyde Park Lions to Hyde Park Pediatrics.
- Theresa Dunford of the District S Literacy Committee is familiar with Reach Out and Read from her days at West Bridgewater Pediatrics. Thank you, Theresa, for making a Reach Out and Read Cape Cod program site the recipient of your book drive.
- And...see below for Leos doings on the Cape!
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Kids Helping Kids:
Young Lions deliver books for
Reach Out and Read
They may be too old to get a book from the pediatrician these days, but the Young Leos of Barnstable High School, led by Dave Koehler, were on familiar territory when they helped move books from Cape Cod Pediatrics to Briarpatch Pediatrics and Seaside Pediatrics on the Cape. Their can-do spirit got the job done in no time!
Many thanks to their team, from left to right below:
Dave, Melissa, Tommy, Animesh, Madison, Michelle and Kenny.
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Mason Square Providers Picture Themselves Reading
During a recent site visit to Springfield's Baystate Mason Square Health Center,Laurie Flynn was delighted to see the particularly clever way in which Dr. Elizabeth Boyle and her staff reminded patients about the importance of reading aloud through the artwork in their waiting area. Framed and hanging on the walls throughout the waiting room were pictures of the pediatric staff reading aloud to their own children. What a great and relatively inexpensive way to enhance a literacy rich waiting area and to reinforce for families that teaching children to love books and stories begins in the home.
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Pies for Books!
Harvard Vanguard - Chelmsford held a very successful bake sale before Thanksgiving to raise funds for their share of Reach Out and Read books. They raised more than $400!
Next year, the program site plans to hold a Pre-Thanksgiving Pie Sale because Reach Out and Read Coordinator Claudia Scott tried out her baking hand and sold all 24 pies she made! | |
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