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Read All About Us!

Fall 2014

Read Aloud gaining mo-mentum │ Page 2

Parkersburg kids want to be like Mr. Swales │ Page 3

Ashraf is a doctor/reader/writer. A unicorn? │ Page 4

Mabscott, Raleigh Coun-ty, wages Cardinals Read! Event │ Page 4

Read Aloud Summit gets rave reviews │ Page 5

Henry Winkler, actor and author of Hank Zipzer series, coming to Jackson County │ Page 6

Mon County readers reach out to kids in Bart-lett House │ Page 7

Readicide author Kelly Gallagher coming to Harper’s Ferry │ Page 7

Read Aloud launches $25,000 annual fund drive │ Page 8

WV Reading Association conference to explore links to arts │ Page 8

By Lynn Lewis Kessler A milestone of sorts was met in July as

Read Aloud hosted its first Read Aloud

Summit at Stonewall Resort and Confer-ence Center. The event brought together local chapter representatives from across the state for two days of sharing ideas, de-veloping future plans and building program consistency.

A capacity-building grant from Energy Corporation of America was critical in bringing this goal to fruition, said Mary Kay Bond, executive director of Read Aloud.

“This meeting is a huge step forward in strengthening our existing network in 23 counties and developing greater program depth,” Bond said.

(Continued on page 5)

Read Aloud Summit 2014 exceeds expectations; ECA sponsors

By Lesley McCullough McCallister The BB&T West Virginia Foundation, a

supporter of Read Aloud West Virginia da-ting back to 1995, awarded a $2,500 gift to Read Aloud in June. In recent years, the company’s generous grants have helped build Read Aloud’s Book Distribution Pro-gram throughout the Mountain State.

Last year, every student in a Read Aloud classroom received at least one magazine. Thus far this year, Read Aloud has distributed nearly 2,500 new and gen-tly used books to students at vari-ous participating schools across the state.

“We know book ownership and ac- (Continued on page 3)

BB&T Foundation grant boosts book program across West Virginia

Pediatrics group says reading aloud to kids at early age is essential

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued a policy statement urging its doctors to educate parents about the im-portance of reading aloud to their children beginning at a very early age.

“Reading regularly with young children stimulates optimal patterns of brain devel-opment and strengthens parent-child rela-tionships at a critical time in child develop-ment, which, in turn, builds language, litera-cy and social-emotional skills that last a life-time,” the academy says.

Read Aloud Executive Director Mary Kay Bond applauds the academy’s stance, one that she has promoted in West Virginia. In

(Continued on page 3)

Brittany Fracasso and Shannon Lewis

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What a summer! Days in the Read Aloud office have been anything but the lazy, hazy ones referred to in an old song. Instead, they have been energizing and ex-citing. Further, they bring the promise of an equally pro-ductive fall. This issue of the newsletter offers us an op-portunity to share some of that excitement.

In June, we mailed surveys to our active readers—all 733, the largest group to date. Once the surveys go out, we eagerly await their return, and our readers do not disappoint. Many share their classroom expe-riences and offer us a glimpse into magic happening in their class-rooms. Like reader John Swales, who is profiled in this newsletter, they connect children to reading in an enjoyable way. Through their love of reading and the power of the stories they share, they help children develop a desire to read.

Along the way, without the children even realizing it, vocabu-laries and “listening muscles” grow. It is learning at its finest—relaxed and meaningful. Our read-ers share stories of parents calling them to get the title of a book read to a class so they can buy it and read it at home. Reader comments and stories buoy our spirits and energize us for the year ahead. While we can’t share them all, here are just a few:

“You know you’ve made a difference when a fifth grade boy hands you a note that says, ‘You are by far the best reader in the whole world. I wish you could come in more often.’ That’s what it’s all about!” – Sharon Teb-ben, Berkeley Springs.

“I believe readers will make a great difference in the lives of these children.” – Sheri Huffman, Oak Hill.

“This was one of the most rewarding and fun things I have ever done!” – David Gladwell, Hedgesville.

As I write this we have just returned from our first Read Aloud Summit. Thanks to a capacity building grant from the ECA Foundation, we were able to bring representatives of our local chapters together to share

Read Aloud gaining momentum

with volunteers, teachers, doctors;

We need your help, too!

their successes, challenges and ideas directly with one another. This long-held dream of mine is another step toward deepening our local roots and building a strong network of support among chapters. You can read more about this exciting event in a story on page one.

As we close out the summer, we are preparing for the year ahead. A glimpse at school calendars will per-suade you August is the new September. We are eager

to get last year’s readers back in the classroom as soon as possible and welcome new ones to share the joy of reading. You will see that we are even reaching stu-dents outside the classroom when you read about a group of Monon-galia County readers on page sev-en. And the excitement continues. The American Academy of Pediat-rics recently issued a report en-couraging doctors to discuss the importance of reading to children with families during infant and toddler checkups. Presentations by Kelly Gallagher, author of Read-icide, and the annual West Virgin-

ia Reading Association Conference promise to inspire and offer ideas for making reading enjoyable, valued and relevant in the classrooms and homes of West Virginia’s children.

Changing the literacy climate has an effect far be-yond the classroom. Literacy is a health and economic well-being issue. We need many hands to make this change and welcome the growing number of individuals and groups who are partnering with us in this effort.

It has indeed been an exciting summer—with more excitement to come. Stay tuned.

—Mary Kay Bond

“You are by far the best

reader in the whole

world,” a fifth grade boy

wrote to Berkeley Springs

reader Sharon Tebben. “I

wish you could come in

more often.”

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By Lesley McCullough McCallister

Parkersburg resident John Swales was working for the United States Treasury Department when he was asked to read to students at McKinley Elementary School through the Part-ners in Education program.

Swales admits that his initial in-terest was out of obligation to “help build a better future workforce.” However, during the training about the do’s and don’ts of reading to young children, a Wood County school board official specifically thanked Swales for volunteering and said, “You don’t understand. I’m thanking you because you’re a man. Many of these kids don’t have any male role models around, let alone one to whom reading is important.”

In that moment, the importance of the job resonated with him and his initial sense of obligation changed.

“Not only was the job important, it was an absolute blast,” explained Swales. “I loved it from the first ses-sion. Kids aged eight to 10 are unbe-lievably open and engaged. They just soak things up like sponges, and their delight in the new worlds you open up to them reminds even old guys like me what's it like to be alive.”

For the last two years Swales has

Students say they want to be ‘successful like Mr. Swales’

read to third and fifth graders in Jill Carden’s classrooms at Emerson and Vienna elementaries. This year they will team up in Carden’s fourth grade classroom at Mineral Wells Elemen-tary.

She explained, “Mr. Swales is a treasure trove of information. He ex-poses my students to rich, high-level vocabulary. He has also taught my stu-dents about historical events, other cultures and languages, financial ad-vice and shared stories about his own life. They feel connected to him. Every child who encounters him finds him fascinating, engaging and often they say they want to be successful like Mr. Swales.”

Swales describes his reading style as energetic, and his goal is to “invest pure narrative with appropriate emo-tional content.” In addition, when he delivers his readings to students he “plays” the parts, being mindful to pay close attention to the author’s intent.

For example, Swales said that when he read C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, one of his greatest challenges was making sure there was a sufficient difference be-tween the voices of Mr. and Mrs. Bea-ver.

“Do you know how hard it is to alter your voice to mimic male and female beavers?” he asked. “Picture me practicing that in front of a mir-ror!”

Swales is so popular that Carden has expanded her Read Aloud time with him. “There is nothing I could accomplish in that time that would surpass what he is able to do,” she said. “He is so influential in building student vocabulary and interest!”

BB&T grant (Continued from page 1)

cess to printed material are critical to raising readers,” said Mary Kay Bond, executive director of Read Aloud West Virginia. “It saddens me to know that some of our elementary schools do not even have libraries – imagine trying to teach football without footballs! This grant enables us to put books directly in the hands of West Virginia’s children and its importance cannot be overstat-ed.”

Researchers at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville recently released findings from a three-year study of younger students, who were in first and second grades when the study began. The study’s results showed that stu-dents who received books for summer reading at home experienced less of a “summer slide” in reading skills during the instructional break. Specifically, researchers noted that spending just $50 on books sent home with students during summer break can help allevi-ate the deterioration of reading skills and reduce the amount of instruction time needed to help students catch up at the beginning of each school year.

(Continued from page 1)

2009 she partnered with Dr. James Binder to bring that same message to doctors at The Marshall University Medical School.

“Encourage parents to talk to their children, to sing to them, to read to them. If they get that prescription from you they will listen. Make it a part of the well-baby check-up,” she urged the residents during grand rounds.

Binder, at that time, practiced pedi-atric and adolescent psychiatry at the Marshall medical school. He is a long-time supporter of Read Aloud.

The AAP emphasized that doctors should talk with parents about develop-mentally appropriate reading activities, and urged them to provide books to high-risk, low-income children.

AAP

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Doctor/reader/writer dubs herself a unicorn

Mabscott wages Cardinals Read! event

Mabscott Elementary School, Raleigh County, issued its first Cardi-nals Read! Summer Reading Chal-lenge this year.

Read Aloud West Virginia donat-ed enough books for every student, and volunteer readers worked with Title I teachers and Principal Dr. Bev-erly Weis to plan the event. The school bought a book for each child, using book fair monies, and planned reading games for each grade.

Raleigh County Title I sent a package of 10 books and activities to each kin-dergarten and first grade student, as well.

Students were challenged to read at least 10 books and bring their reading logs back to school in August. They plan to celebrate with prizes and lunch with Dr. Weis. Contributed by Ann Cline, Read Aloud coordinator

By Alexandria J. Ashraf When most people think of physi-

cians, they think of logical, practical personalities. When they think of writers and avid readers, they think of creative and emotional personali-ties; rarely does one find the combi-nation of the two. Well, I suppose I am the unicorn in this case.

Ever since my first trip to the hos-pital with my father, I have been fas-cinated with healthcare. The happi-ness that radiates from patients’ fac-es when they find out they are healed is incredibly fulfilling and can-not be adequately described by

words. But even before those pre-cious father-daughter moments at the hospital, I developed a love of books. Not only did they take up most of my free time when I was a child, but also they helped to create a strong link between a family member and me.

My oldest brother and I are 11 years apart in age. We have a middle brother in the family too, and the two boys got to grow up together and make their own special memo-ries. But the age gap between the first born brother and me, the baby of the family, was hard to fill. One

day he was looking through his books as he cleaned out his room. I wandered in, curious even at that age, and asked what he was doing. He then sat me near him and showed me my first nov-el. It was one of the books from the Chronicles of Narnia series by author C. S. Lewis. After it seemed I was interest-ed enough in the book, my brother told me it was his favorite as a kid and offered it to me to read. I knew even then that this was a connection that shouldn’t be broken, so I asked if he could read it with me and teach me. After that door was opened, many more commonalities between him and me blossomed.

This story is part of the reasoning that I want to help push Read Aloud West Virginia into a bigger spotlight. I feel that if a love of reading is en-grained in children early enough, it can stay with them for a lifetime. This piece also can show that even someone like me can, and must, include it in her life.

Reading for me has pulled me through some of the toughest times in my adult life, and it continues to do so today. So no matter how many organic chemistry classes I take, or how many patients I hopefully will treat one day, I know I can come home to a great book to help me suspend reality for a bit, and to give me one of the most delicious parts of my day.

Thanks again, AEP

Read Aloud West Virginia would like to thank Appalachian

Power for its on-going support of our programs, including the printing and paper for the publication of this

newsletter.

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The conference kicked off with a presentation by Char-lotte Webb, coordinator for elementary education for the West Virginia Department of Education’s Office of Early Learning. Webb spoke about the state of literacy in West Virginia, as well as state Department of Education initia-tives aimed at addressing the problems.

The focus then turned to best practices for imple-menting and administering Read Aloud’s various programs throughout the state. Chapter leaders shared experiences and learned about successful initiatives in Read Aloud’s four major program areas: volunteer readers, book distri-bution, classroom enrichment and parent education.

The needs of local chapters were assessed by survey prior to the event and then were addressed through indi-vidual presentations and group discussion. The conference was well-received by those in attendance. Diane Deweese, a member of the Raleigh County Read Aloud board, raved, “The conference gave the exact information I needed, did-n’t waste time, gave us the opportunity to share ideas with others, was very well organized and was overall the best conference I ever attended.”

Bond said a highlight for her occurred on the second day of the conference when Christie Tilley of Mingo Coun-ty told the group as they convened, “We were up all night brainstorming!”

Bond said that Read Aloud continues to grow in both depth and reach. She has been contacted recently by indi-viduals interested in bringing Read Aloud to new counties in West Virginia.

“Last year alone, over 700 readers visited classrooms in 168 schools throughout the state,” she said. “We look forward to continued expansion in the years ahead.”

(Continued from page 1)

Read Aloud Summit 2014

Participants in the Read Aloud Summit shown here are: top, Sally Parker and Katy Montgomery of Greenbrier County with Mary Kay Bond; second, Marion Tanner of Fayette, and Susan D'Aoust and Priscilla Marten of Cabell counties; third, Diana Claydon of Monongalia County dis-cusses the Author Week/Month program and materials; fourth, Kandy Kulus of Morgan County, and fifth, Patty Far-ley of Raleigh County. Shown on page one: Brittany Fra-casso represents Marion County, and Sharon Lewis repre-sents Upshur. Photos by Lynn Lewis Kessler

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By Allison Barker As a former educator and Read

Aloud volunteer, Linda Dickirson knew Henry Winkler’s visit to her community offered a rare opportunity. She sees his visit as a way not only to raise much needed funds for the Jackson County Community Foundation, but also to revi-talize the once-thriving but now inactive Read Aloud program in Jackson County.

She is leading an effort to get all 1,172 third, fourth and fifth grade stu-dents in Jackson County “Hooked on Hank” before Winkler’s October visit. Every third, fourth and fifth grade teach-er in Jackson County has been provided copies of Winkler’s entire series, Hank Zipzer: The World’s Greatest Undera-chiever, as well as activity guides and other support materials. In addition, she organized a group of about 50 volun-teers for a one-day reading blitz on Aug. 22, the third day of school this fall, to introduce Winkler’s books.

“All of the volunteers are dynamic oral readers,” Dickirson said. “The idea was for them to read a gripping excerpt as a teaser and get them ‘Hooked on Hank’ – that’s our theme – so that they will want to read all the books in the series. We’ve built incentives into the program to encourage the kids to log minutes reading the books. Classes will compete and then when Henry Winkler visits in October we will tabulate all the minutes and share it with him during the assemblies.”

Dickirson knows the blitz will inspire children to read, but also she hopes it will persuade volunteers to support the important work Read Aloud does in West Virginia schools.

“It’s a wonderful start to get volun-teers and teachers interested in what Read Aloud is,” she said. “In the back of my mind I am hopeful that they will have so much fun that at least half of the readers will want to go back every

By Allison Barker Henry Winkler and his “Happy

Days” TV character Fonzie were a favorite for kids growing up in the ‘70s. They would mimic his slick mannerisms and dress like him for Halloween. Yet, few people knew that just like the character he por-trayed, Winkler struggled with school. It wasn’t until he was 31, when his own son was diagnosed with dyslexia, that Winkler knew why. They share this learning disabil-ity.

Winkler’s personal struggle with dyslexia inspired him to write a se-ries of children's books starring Hank Zipzer, a fictional boy who, like Win-kler, has problems with reading and math. The 18-book series based on Winkler’s life has been named to several Best Seller lists, including The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times.

“A child doesn’t wake up in the morning and go, `Wow. I’m going to be an idiot today. I’m going to cause trouble,’” Winkler told MSNBC. “I covered my shame and humiliation for not being able to figure out what was going on with humor.”

On Oct. 16 in Jackson County, Winkler will share his struggles and how he overcame them to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees, two consecutive Golden Globe awards, and become an accom-plished producer, director and au-

thor. During what will be his first visit to West Virginia, he will meet with elemen-tary students at Ripley High School and at Ravenswood High School before serving as the keynote speaker for a fund-raiser for the Jackson County Com-munity Foundation.

Jane Winters, regional manager of Affiliates for Our Community’s Foundation, told Jackson Newspa-pers in Ripley that her group spent two years trying to work out sched-uling conflicts so Winkler, who sel-dom does school and community speaking engagements, could partic-ipate in the annual benefit. David and Linda Dickirson and the Dickirson Corp. have provided fund-ing to bring Winkler to Jackson County.

“Henry Winkler has often said that he had trouble reading books his entire life, so he never imagined he could ever write one,” Winters said.

A limited number of benefit tickets remain to hear Winkler speak at the Armed Forces Reserve Center in Mill-wood. Call the foundation at 304-372- 8588 or Ticket Committee Chairwoman Jenny Parsons at 304-372-5189.

Henry Winkler coming to Jackson County

Actor, author, producer to discuss reading struggles during W.Va. visit

couple of weeks and read and see how their classes are progressing. And for teachers, it’s a good oppor-tunity for them to get used to having outside volunteers in their class-

rooms again. If it’s a positive experi-ence, teachers and volunteers will want to participate in Read Aloud.”

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By Erin Casey Read Aloud of Monongalia County

is breaking out beyond the borders of the classroom to reach young readers. Through the hard work and guidance of Kathleen Abate, a unique partnership has blossomed between Read Aloud and the Bartlett House.

The Bartlett House is on a mission to address homeless issues in Morgan-town by providing “emergency food, shelter and medical referrals first, then one-to-one comprehensive case man-agement to break the cycle of home-lessness,” Abate said. “We are com-mitted to providing shelter that meets a person’s basic needs in an atmos-phere where people are treated with dignity and respect.”

While most shelters are geared to adults, Read Aloud saw the potential in addressing another large population of Bartlett House—children.

“The kids and parents that cycle through the shelters constitute a popu-lation that is open to reading,” Abate said. “Some of the kids are so very bright and so very bored. We are a break from the monotony of the shel-ter.”

Read Aloud not only offers a week-ly reading to the children, it also offers books for them to take home. “The parents are given books to read to their very young children, while older chil-dren are given books to keep as their own at a time when they have very few possessions to call their own,” Abate said.

Through the work of Read Aloud board members Betty Evans, Diana Claydon, Carrie Smith-Bell, and Abate, arrangements have been made to in-clude West Virginia University students as program volunteers. “It is not only an opportunity to introduce children to books, but also provides the children that positive interaction with an adult in a small group or one on one setting,”

Read Aloud partners with Bartlett House she said.

Abate also believes the program could be adopted for use by other county chapters.

“I believe we are offering the families a positive experience at a time when things may be bleak and the parents are feeling somewhat

desperate,” Abate said. “My hope is that someone read-

ing this article would work to dupli-cate (and improve upon) the pro-gram elsewhere.”

For more information about the Bartlett House, visit www.bartletthouse.org.

Readicide author to conduct workshop for teachers, others to cultivate deeper learning

By Allison Barker With a philosophy that “we need

to teach our students to read like writers and to write like readers,” it’s easy to understand why teachers are eager to hear more from reading expert and Readicide author Kelly Gallagher.

An English teacher in California, Gallagher will share his tips on nur-turing reading and learning with West Virginia teachers and others during two, one-day workshops in Harpers Ferry Sept. 19 and 20. The workshop is sponsored by Regional Education Service Agency (RESA) 8. It will focus on building deeper readers and writers, which is the topic of Gal-lagher’s latest novel.

Participation in the first work-shop is limited to Berkeley County educators. Day 2, which will be a re-peat of day 1, is open to teachers in other counties, higher education and others who may be interested in Gal-lagher’s message, said John Milli-man, special education coordinator for RESA 8.

“Kelly Gallagher is passionate about making reading and writing interesting and accessible to stu-dents, that it is more important that kids read than what they read,” Milli-man said. “He will share how we can help students read for meaning and write for purpose to develop deeper

reading and understanding and focus on the meaning rather than par-roting back facts and figures.”

To register for the workshops, go to www.resa8.org. Registration for the workshops, which includes lunch, costs $100. A $25 discount is availa-ble to those working in RESA 8, which includes Berkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, Miner-al, Morgan and Pendleton counties, as well as the West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind.

Kelly Gallagher is the author of Readicide, a book about what he calls “the systematic killing of the love of reading.” Dawn Miller, edi-torial page editor of The Charleston Gazette and former board chair-woman of Read Aloud West Virgin-ia, reviewed his book in the Fall 2009 issue of the Read Aloud Newsletter.

In her review Miller noted that Gallagher says there are two big ways schools commit readicide. First, schools don’t give students enough time to read for pleasure. Second, they often over teach liter-ature.

To read the review, go to readaloudwestvirginia.org, click on the Newsletter tab, and scroll down to the Fall 2009 issue.

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CHAS.,WV 25301

P. O. Box 1784

Charleston, WV 25326-1784

(304) 345-5212

By Lynn Lewis Kessler July 1 marked the start of Read Aloud’s 2014-

2015 Annual Fund campaign. Expectations are high as this effort follows a 2013-2014 campaign that was the organization’s most successful to date, according to Executive Director Mary Kay Bond.

A charge set forth by Energy Corporation of America Foundation (ECA), a major funder of Read Aloud, places additional weight on the year ahead. By independently raising $25,000 in calendar year 2014 and $50,000 in 2015, Read Aloud will receive matching funds in those amounts from the foun-dation.

Read Aloud celebrates the success of last year’s campaign, but according to Frank McCullough, chairman of development for the board of directors, the organization does not un-derestimate the task ahead. “The challenge to sus-tain a statewide, high-quality program remains,” McCullough said. “In fact, it grows greater as the program expands both geographically and in the services we provide.”

The mission of Read Aloud is simple in its focus but essential to improving the health and econom-ic well-being of West Virginians. The organization is working to create an environment that encour-ages children to become life-long readers. Even in the midst of a recession, says Bond, Read Aloud has surpassed its goals and the Annual Fund has grown each year since the reorganization of the statewide program in 2008. Bond believes this vote of confidence by Read Aloud’s supporters is crucial to the continuation and expansion of the program.

Read Aloud is not funded by a national organi-

2014-15 Annual Fund drive kicks off zation, but by people who are invested in West Virginia, Bond notes. This investment allows Read Aloud staff and volunteers to reach more families with a message designed to create a culture that values reading.

The 59th West Virgin-ia Reading Association Conference will be held at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs Nov. 20 through 21, 2014. This year’s conference is a salute to the arts and their role in motivating students to read through effective instruction strategies and pos-itive classroom environments. The conference will feature national speakers Dr. Rick Duvall, Dr. John Schacter, Dr. Richard Gentry and Dr. Tim Rasinski. Vienna Dohler, granddaughter of legendary singer Donna Summer, will open the event. The conference will have a storytelling session sponsored by Lakeshore Learning, ven-dors, a job fair and more than 60 sessions pre-sented by professionals who will share their expertise in blending reading and the arts.

Registration links can be found at wvreading.com or at: www.regonline.com/wvraconference2014.

WV Reading Association to salute the arts’ role in reading at fall conference

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