In This Issue
NEW APP POLICY STATEMENT RECOMMENDS REACH OUT AND READ, INCREASES AGE-RANGE
Recent Microlectures Available On Line
Boston Doctor Wins Young Investigator Award
Greater Worcester Community Foundatiaon Grant
Physician Assistants Hear Dr. Marilyn Augustyn
July 4th Book List
Project Read Celebrates 15th Birthday
In Memory Of
UMass Family Practice Residency
Kids Helping Kids
Contact Info for Reach Out and Read Massachusetts

AAP Policy Statement Recommends Reach Out and Read as Standard Part of Pediatric Primary Care 

Partnership Announced with Clinton Global Initiative, Too Small to Fail, and Scholastic

  

(l-r) Brian Gallagher, Reach Out and Read Executive Director; former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Greg Worrell, President of Scholastic's Classroom and Library Group; and Fan Tait, MD, FAAP, Associate Executive Director of AAP and Director, Department of Community and Specialty Pediatrics.

 

At the fourth annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) America meeting in Denver, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a new collaborative effort between Too Small to Fail, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Scholastic Inc. and Reach Out and Read, dedicated to raising awareness among parents about early language development. 

 

Simultaneously, the AAP issued a new policy statement promoting the incorporation of literacy guidance as an "essential" component of primary care visits from an infant's very first days.  Through this commitment, the partners will ensure that doctors, parents and caregivers have the information, tools and books needed to promote reading aloud to children every day, starting in infancy. 

 

The effort takes a multi-pronged approach toward equipping parents with the best tools to ensure that their children are prepared to learn as they enter school: 

  • Too Small to Fail and the AAP--an organization representing 62,000 pediatricians--will share messages across their networks and media platforms about the importance of talking, reading aloud, and singing to children from birth in order to build vocabulary and promote healthy brain development.
  • To jumpstart the partnership,  Scholastic has donated 500,000 new, age-appropriate children's books for distribution through Reach Out and Read, the non-profit organization that works with 20,000 medical providers nationwide to promote early reading and give books to families at pediatric visits.
  • Reach Out and Read will also distribute a toolkit to be developed by the AAP, with support from Too Small to Fail, that will equip pediatricians with resources to educate parents on how to use everyday activities to improve communication with their infants and toddlers. 

The AAP's policy statement is a true validation of the work we are doing at Reach Out and Read to encourage families to read together and develop critical early literacy skills  before children enter pre-school and kindergarten.  Read more about the AAP policy recommendation and CGI collaborative at:

 

 
Hear Recent MicroLectures 

If you have missed any of our most recent 30-minute microlectures, they are now available on line. Recent titles include

 

Bilingual Development: What Every Provider Should Know, Erika Hoff, PhD.

 

Making the Most of the Book: The Book and the Baby, Cathy Wiley, MD

 

Making the Most of the Book: The Book and the Toddler, Amy Shriver, MD

 

Using the Book You Have Natalie Golova, MD 

 

For a full list, go to the Training tab of www.myror.org.

Young  

Investigators Named

   

Jayna Schumacher, MD, of Boston Medical Center, along with John Hutton, MD, of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, is the 2014 winner of the American Pediatric Association Young Investigator Award Program for Primary Care Strategies for the Promotion of Early Literacy and School Readiness.
 
The award, which is given in partnership with Reach Out and Read, provides financial support for young investigators whose research projects focus on interventions in primary care intended to support the early stages of literacy development and school readiness among children at risk for reading problems or school failure. 

  

Dr. Schumacher's project isUse of E-Books to Support Emerging Readers from Families with Low Socioeconomic Status. She is a fellow at Boston Medical Center, working with Dr. Barry Zuckerman, MD and Dr. Robert Needlman, MD. Dr. Hutton's project is A Neuroimaging-Based Pilot Study Comparing Brain Regions Involved With Receptive Language in Reach Out and Read "Graduates" and Unexposed Children.
He is working with Dr. Tom Dewitt, MD and Dr. Alan Mendelsohn, MD.

Both Young Investigators will be submitting progress reports in September 2014 and April 2015, and a final report on their work will be given by September 15, 2015. Learn more about the Young Investigator Award Program here. 

 
Greater Worcester Community Foundation Funds Worcester Program Sites

The Worcester "Rx for Reading" Initiative was recently funded in part by a grant from the Greater Worcester Community Foundation. These funds will allow Reach Out and 

Read to purchase additional books for practices in the city of Worcester where, according to 2012 data from the Annie E Casey Foundation, 59 percent of third-graders scored below proficient in reading. In Worcester, Reach Out and Read is practiced in 14 clinics and health centers, reaching over 7,600 children annually, to prepare them for reading and school success. Thank you to the Greater Worcester Community Foundation!

   Reach Out and Read Celebrates Primrose

 

On May 6, Reach Out and Read was thrilled to help Primrose Schools celebrate the opening of its Burlington location, the first Primrose School in Massachusetts! At the event, Primrose CEO and Reach Out and Read National Board member Jo Kirchner expressed her enormous support of Reach Out and Read and of our mission to ensure that all children grow up with a love of books, strong language skills, and a family that reads aloud. 

 

Reach Out and Read's Boston Coordinator Carole Ferguson attended the school's kick-off event, along with other community and early education leaders. Reach Out and Read is grateful for Primrose's long-standing support of our program, and we look forward to supporting the new Primrose School, which is located just miles from the Reach Out and Read National Center in Boston. We will be continuing the conversation about the best ways to collaborate around literacy!

 click here to see our website
click here to see our Facebook page

 

   Reach Out and Read New England
        Massachusetts Newsletter  
Summer 2014

 

Serving 188,190 Massachusetts children 
in 293 clinical  locations

 

Dear Reach Out and Read Providers, Coordinators and Supporters,

 

Twenty-five years of Reach Out and Read!  What an accomplishment!  And it all started in Massachusetts.

What that means is that a generation of parents and children throughout the Commonwealth is familiar with our model of pediatric early literacy. With four medical schools and at least seven  residency training programs in Massachusetts, thousands of primary care providers have started their medical careers practicing Reach Out and Read.

 

At the graduation of Family Practice residents at UMASS Memorial in Worcester, preceptor Ron Adler, MD, said

"Some young people in our communities are finding it hard to get good jobs.  Why?

Because they didn't get a quality education.  Why?

Because they didn't become proficient at reading by 3rd grade.  Why?

Because they weren't ready for Kindergarten when they started.  Why?

Because they had not developed fundamental early language and literacy skills.  Why?

Because they were not read to as infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers.  Why?

Because it was not a large part of their family's experience - and because their doctor did not recommend it!"

 

As pediatric and family practice residents across the Commonwealth graduate and prepare to continue their careers in practices, hospitals, and clinics in Massachusetts and beyond, we want to ensure that they bring Reach Out and Read with them.  Many current Reach Out and Read practices have been started by residents who practiced Reach Out and Read during their training, and many more have been invigorated by the energy of new graduates, fulfilling Reach Out and Read's earliest mission: making "literacy promotion a standard part of pediatric primary care." 

 

To see how Reach Out and Read is welcoming residents into practice at one residency training program, and to read more of Dr. Adler's remarks, see the article below.  We welcome all these new providers into the Reach Out and Read family and look forward to meeting them as they move on to the next stage of their professional lives.

Heather2

 

 Heather Robinson,  MPH

Central MA Regional 

Coordinator

 


 American Academy of Physician's Assistants            

More than two hundred physician's assistants were in attendance when Marilyn Augustyn, MD, Reach Out and Read Massachusetts Medical Director, addressed the American Academy of Physician's Assistants National Convention in Boston on May 24. This is the second such group Dr. Augustyn has presented to this year; in March she spoke at the NAPNAP Conference in Boston.

 

While nurse practitioners and physician's assistants are trained and licensed differently, they both are providers in many of our clinics-- giving the same well-child care with anticipatory guidance, prescribing the same books, and carrying a panel of patients.  These providers encourage families to read aloud, providing anticipatory guidance as well as a new Reach Out and Read book. 

 

At both conferences the attendance was huge, the enthusiasm warm and encouraging, and the interest high in carrying the message back to communities where providers will be able to start new programs in their clinics. Alison Corning Clarke and Carole Ferguson staffed follow-up tables with information and joined in meetings with members of the organizations' leadership. Both groups are working with Gretchen Hunsberger, Reach Out and Read Director of Program Quality and Provider Training, so that our organization can form meaningful partnerships with these important providers.

 

Marilyn Augustyn, MD

 

          Cambridge Health Alliance Celebrates Project Read's 15th Birthday

    

 

 

It's birthday season for literacy programs all over! Lisa Dobberteen, MD, Reach Out and Read champion at Cambridge Health Alliance pediatric practices, pulled together authors, music, free books and author signings--plus a birthday cake that looked like a book!--all in honor of the 15th birthday of Project Read, a childhood literacy program she founded to promote the importance of reading in primary care settings throughout Cambridge Health Alliance. Project READ provides books and guidance about reading at all well-child and sick visits from newborns through the teen years. We celebrate with them and are so pleased to be part of their health care team.

In Memory of Mason Silva

One thousand six hundred and thirty-one new and gently-used books were donated to Reach Out and Read in memory of Mason Silva of Danvers. Another North Shore mom, Katheryn Leibfried, organized the drive and delivered the books to the Reach Out and Read office in Boston. Kathryn coordinated the drive via Facebook and wrote a note to all who supported her efforts: "I am forever grateful to each and every one of you, who, just like me, felt compelled to do something - and actually did! " says Kathryn. "Together we have put a lot of good back out into the world. And, a most special thank you to Alissa Collins Silva for sharing your precious son and for allowing us to honor him in a way that will enlighten and enrich the lives of hundreds of children."

 

These books will make an enormous difference to Reach Out and Read program sites, and we thank Kathryn, and especially the Silva family, for their generous effort in memory of Mason.

  

UMASS Family Practice Residency Graduation 2014 

 


 

On June 13, Ron Adler MD gave a brief speech and a Reach Out and Read 'starter' pack of books to the graduating Family Practice residents at UMass Memorial in Worcester. The entire text of his graduation speech is below.

                                                                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

Many of the graduating residents brought their families with them, including small children.  Saidah Paulinice, daughter of Third Year Family Practice Resident Bency Louidor-Paulynice MD, enjoyed the starter pack and amused herself with "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie!"

"Some young people in our communities are finding it hard to get good jobs.  Why?

Because they didn't get a quality education.  Why?

Because they didn't become proficient at reading by 3rd grade.  Why?

Because they weren't ready for Kindergarten when they started.  Why?

Because they had not developed fundamental early language and literacy skills.  Why?

Because they were not read to as infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers.  Why?

Because it was not a large part of their family's experience - and because their doctor did not recommend it!

This is an echo of what Frederick Douglass had said: "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."

The mission of Reach Out and Read is To prepare America's youngest children to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to prescribe books and to encourage parents to read aloud every day.

In all of our residency practices, we implement this program in which doctors give a developmentally appropriate book to every child at every well visit between the ages of 6 months and 5 years.  This is coupled with guidance and coaching for parents - all while we sneakily perform developmental assessment of the child through observing their interactions with the book.

By 9 months of age, children growing up in poverty, compared to other children, have measurably deficient skills -- and deficient vocabularies by 18 months.  For such children, their doctor may be the only educated professional they see in their first few years.  And we get to see them repeatedly, which presents a great opportunity to influence their development through this program.

Thus we hope that our residents will carry Reach Out and Read with them into their future practices, and so we give each of them these "starter packs" that include a few books, a contact to help them get many more, and some developmental resources and guides." 

 

 

                          Thank You to Our Supporters!
 
We appreciate  all our supporters do!  Keeping clinics in books is no easy chore.  There are many ways we are helped in keeping clinic waiting rooms full of gently-used books, and we appreciate all those who lend a hand.

 

 

Mary Jones of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Lexington chapter, keeps bringing those books!  She collects or buys new and gently-used books and donates hundreds and hundreds at a time. They appear at Carole Ferguson's driveway as if the gnomes left them. They are whisked off to waiting rooms in clinics around the city.

        

 Thanks to Wellesley Books for their continuing donations of books for children and adults at our practices. One of our clinics uses some of them for their own "lending library" where teens take books and return for a new one.  It is a major hit and what a reinforcing message.

                         

Kids Helping Kids

 

 Many thanks to Judith Forman, Public Awareness Manager at Reach Out and Read National, and her one-year-old daughter Sloane for coordinating a drive to benefit North Shore Pediatrics in Danvers.

 

Judith and Sloane are part of a group of moms and babies who met at Beverly Hospital last year. When they met again recently for a birthday celebration, the birthday gifts were for Reach Out andRead Massachusetts! Thank you Judith, Sloane and the moms and babies of Beverly!

 

Max Lyons, a rising junior at Buckingham Brown and Nichols who is volunteering at Reach Out and Read this summer, showed up at just the right time!  Between sorting the upwards of 1,600 books donated in memory of Mason Silva, organizing the books for our Healthy Lifestyles grant, and updating development files, we are keeping him busy!  Max, who is a year-round competitive swimmer, will be getting his learner's permit this summer as well. Welcome, Max!

 

Wareham CFCE Coordinator Maureen Manning and the Wareham Beyond School Time program donated 2,500 Scholastic Books to Wareham Pediatrics to help restart the practice's Reach Out and Read program.  The Beyond School Time program offers many resources, including a Grandparents Group, a Family Engagement Center, and TIDES, an after-school tutoring program. Thank you to Maureen and the students who helped sort and organize the books!

 

REACH OUT AND READ MASSACHUSETTS CONTACT INFORMATION

 56 Roland Street, Suite 100D, 

Boston, MA 02129-1243 

                                                         Phone: 617.455.0636                                                               Fax: 617.455.0601 

 

Alison Corning Clarke, MA, MSW -  Massachusetts Programs Director                alison.clarke@reachoutandread.org

 

                                       Carole Ferguson, PNP - Boston Area Regional Coordinator                                               carole.ferguson@reachoutandread.org 


                                       Sara Stewart, MA - Western MA Regional Coordinator                                               sara.stewart@reachoutandread.org   

                        Heather Robinson, MPH - Central MA Regional Coordinator                       heather.robinson@reachoutandread.org
 
                           Marilyn Augustyn MD -  Massachusetts Medical Director                             marilyn.augustyn@reachoutandread.org