Serving Lincoln, Tillamook, Marion, Polk and Yamhill Counties

SMART Northwest AreaSpring/Summer 2015

Hello from SMART’s Northwest Area, serving Lincoln, Tillamook, Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties! It’s been a wonderful year of bringing the joy of reading to local children in our communities, thanks to the dedication and partnership of hundreds of local volunteers, donors, advocates and educators.

THANKS ALL AROUND!SITE COORDINATORSSMART Site Coordinators are vital to the success of our reading programs statewide. Each week during the school year, they spend hours supervising reading sessions, working closely with teachers to help SMART serve young readers at risk of falling behind and bringing the spirit of SMART to the school community. Thank you to our 56 amazing Site Coordinators.

Aaron NewlandAndrea HolmquistAnne BrightwellAnne VennerBarbara KessingerBernie McGinnisBetty LevenhagenBrian SchindlerCarol ChristCarol MaierCarrie CasebeerCassie HarrisonChen LiDanielle JanesDebra Jo HuffmanDenise KelleyDerek VanSiseDiane WilkinsonDoug Schoonmaker

SMART Readers spend an hour each week throughout the school year helping kids develop critical reading skills and self-confidence. One-on-one, our Readers motivate students to read, lead and achieve. Thank you to the more than 574 SMART Readers in the Northwest Area for inspiring children’s lifelong love of reading!

The SMART Leadership Council is a group of local leaders who’ve joined together to advocate for SMART in their companies and communities. Thank you to this incredible group for supporting our vision of an Oregon where every child can read and is empowered to succeed!

SMART School Sponsors are businesses, foundations and individuals who provide the funding and volunteer support necessary for sites in their communities to thrive. Thanks to our School Sponsor in the Northwest Area.

Esme RiosFrances HartwellGerry StavneyGretchen CoppedgeHardy AcreeHeidi ReinkerIrene BarnardJana BrownJane SchoonmakerJane UreJoAnne MyersJohn VennerJoyce DavenportKelli HansenKurt HaasLaDonna PerigoLinda OcheltreeLori DurrellLuAnn Anderson

Maira HernandezMelanie LabhartNancy RussellOlivia MonicalPat Anderson Pua GomesRenee QuinteroRonald CruzSally TuttleSasha CohenShanna KerrShawnie MurphySheila AkersShirley MorrisSuzanne StricklandTiffany WilliamsTonia OlsonTonya Schueller- Pedro

Jodi BerrySteven BroncheauAli ByarsKarlina ChristensenSteven GotoJanet Rafalovich

Kathy SaundersVictoria ShinnSandy Torgrimson-FoxJeffery Ulven

2014-15 NORTHWEST AREA IMPACT

SMART READERS

SMART SCHOOL SPONSORS

SMART NORTHWEST LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

36sites

573volunteers

1,463students

13,680books given

SMART Northwest Area StaffJenn Columbus, Area ManagerMichael Finlay, Assistant ManagerMiKayla Ryan, Assistant Manager

SMART Northwest Area OfficePO Box 13021 Salem, OR 97309

Contact Us!Phone: 503-391-8423Web: www.getSMARToregon.org

THANK YOU, UMPQUA

Our friends at Umpqua Bank signed on as SMART’s Book Pack Sponsor at all nine fundraising events statewide this year – including our event in Salem in February! Thanks to Umpqua, guests at our event had the opportunity to channel their inner child and create bookmarks for SMART students, and also received special bookmarks with book-inspired drawings from SMART students.

2015 BOOK CHALLENGE RAISES FUNDS FOR BOOKS

FOR LOCAL KIDS

Our annual Book Challenge, encouraging volunteers in sites across the Northwest Area and statewide to donate funds to purchase books for students in their communities, triumphed

once again! Our amazing volunteers raised $5,740, which will help purchase 2,296 books for local SMART students. Oceanlake Elementary had the highest percentage of volunteer participation in the Book Challenge in the Northwest Area. Congratulations and thank you to these stellar volunteers for taking home the win for your SMART students! A new element of the Book Challenge this year, winning sites also got to give away an additional book for students.

Statewide, the Book Challenge raised $75,000 thanks the generosity of hundreds of volunteers and a matching grantfrom the Fred Meyer Fund; this equates to 30,000 books for kids across Oregon next year!

ANNUAL SMART FUNDRAISERSUPPORTS LOCAL PROGRAMS

Our annual fundraiser, Writing the Next Chapter, was a great success. Held at the Willamette Heritage Center in February, the event raised more than $26,000 to support local SMART programs across our five county-area.

Many thanks go to all who attended for their generous support, to our sponsors, and to our Leadership Council, whose hard work and dedication made it all possible.

CELEBRATING SMARTIN LINCOLN COUNTY

On May 4, SMART held a special event at Oceanlake Elementary for community leaders and educators to experience the SMART program first-hand. Guests included Lincoln City Councilor Chester Noreikis, Lincoln County School Board Chairwoman Liz Martin, and Lincoln County Commissioner Bill Hall, among others. Special thanks go to SMART Site Coordinator Gerry Stavney for all his hard work and dedication to make this event – and SMART all year long – a success!

From left: Lincoln County School Board Chairwoman Liz Martin and Lincoln County Commissioner Bill Hall read with Oceanlake students at the SMART event. Photos courtesy of The News Guard.