201 S. Garfield St., Room 13 Kennewick, WA 99336

NONPROFIT ORG

US POSTAGE

PAID

PASCO, WA

PERMIT # 109

facebook.com/read20minutes

Children in our community are waiting for someone like you to volunteer so that they can become successful readers and students.

Volunteers needed for 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade students

One-on-one tutoring with the same student

Commitment is only two, 30-minute sessions a week

Bilingual tutors highly encouraged to sign up!

We are also looking for Business Partners

that will support their employees by allowing them to take an extra 30 minutes for their lunch to tutor a child. If your business is

interested please contact us!

(509) 222-7324 www.teamreadtutoring.com

Learning to read can be frustrating

The mission of The Children’s Reading Foundation of the Mid-Columbia is to encourage and educate families and caregivers about their important role in raising a reader, support

schools in assuring that children read on grade level by the end of third grade, and facilitate community involvement in helping young readers be successful.

Enemy Pie

Skippyjon Jones

Read together 20 minutes every day.

T he Board of the Children’s Reading

Foundation of the Mid-Columbia has

welcomed Amy Ward as the new Executive

Director.

Amy brings 15 years of experience working

with youth and families. She has more than a

decade of experience as the Executive Director

for the Tobacco Free Benton-Franklin

Counties and most recently as the Greater

Columbia 2-1-1 Regional Coordinator. She

serves on the Tri-City Health Care Alliance

and is a Benton County Public Facilities

District Board Member. Additionally, she

served as a Kennewick Housing Authority

Commissioner and is a Leadership Tri-Cities

Class XI graduate. She will graduate with a

Masters of Business Administration in

December 2012.

Amy officially began on July 9th. “Amy

brings us strong community involvement and

relationships and nonprofit organizational

skills,” said Board President Suzanne Heaston.

“We also wish to thank former Executive

Director Brian Ace for his outstanding service

and accomplishments. We wish him

continued success.”

“I am excited to partner with an amazing

staff and carry on the culture of good

stewardship, transparency and service to the

community. The Children’s Reading

Foundation’s programs have been effective in

getting parents involved with their children’s

education,” said Amy.

The Children’s Reading Foundation recognizes

Brian Ace for his accomplishments bringing

financial accountability and organizational

support to the agency. He was successful in

increasing community awareness that resulted

in receiving a grant from the Columbia Center

Rotary to fund Community Reading Baskets.

Over 200 book baskets will be placed

throughout the community to provide reading

opportunities to children and families. The

Board and Staff wish him success in his new role

as Executive Director for the Boys & Girls Clubs

of Benton and Franklin Counties

Amy has continued to drive the growth and

impact of the Children’s Reading Foundation as

she builds on successful programs and works

closely with community leaders to ensure that

all children have access to books.

Along with a new fiscal year and the start of

the 2012-2013 school year, several Reading

Foundation programs are gearing up. Inside this

newsletter you can find out about our Team

Read volunteer tutoring program and how you

can get involved. Read about the READY! for

Kindergarten classes available to ensure children

meet kindergarten readiness targets. Find out

about how Our Babies Can’t Wait is giving new

and expectant parents an opportunity to gain

valuable skills that will benefit their children

right from the start. All this and more is inside,

we hope you enjoying reading all about it!

Board of Directors:

Suzanne Heaston, President

John Neill, Past-President

Jessica Blankenship, V. President

Chris Eerkes, Secretary

Kyle Cox, Treasurer

Bonnie Taylor

Nancy Kerr

Brad Fisher

Andy Perdue

Scott Mitchell

Alysia Johnson

Liza Nagel

Jill Brog

Lorraine Cooper

Nancy Sauer

Michelle Turner

Randy Way

Sean Simmonds

RB McCord

Martin Valadez

Executive Director: Amy Ward

201 Garfield St., Rm. 13 Kennewick, WA 99336

award@readingfoundation.org www.read20minutes.com

inside...

Summer 2012

A New Chapter Begins as the Board Welcomes Amy Ward

Amy Ward, Executive Director, CRF of the Mid-Columbia

Worth the Read...

Author: Derek

Munson

Illustrator: Tara

Calahan King

What if you had a secret recipe

that was powerful enough to

get rid of your enemies? Follow

the journey of a boy whose

father knows exactly what

ingredients will turn foes into

friends. Beautiful illustrations

accompany the sweet lesson in

the story, reminding readers

that kindness can cook up a

powerful friendship.

Author:

Judy Schachner

Illustrator: Heather Wood

The only thing bigger than

Skippyjon Jones’ ears is his

imagination. His adventures

are limitless as he transforms

into a bird or a mouse or even

a dog! The illustrations are eye

catching and the stories will

have your children laughing.

Skippyjon Jones takes on the

world and is a great story for

parents who want to inspire

children to dream big.

F irst time parents with children under

one or parents who are expecting are

invited to attend free classes this fall

through Our Babies Can’t Wait. This

Community Solutions initiative, funded

by the United Way, focuses on building a

Book Reviews

Free Fall Classes For first-time expecting and new parents

sound foundation for today’s newborns.

Fall sessions take place October 3rd

through November 14th with a variety

of options for parents. Wednesday

sessions are held at the Keewaydin

Library in Kennewick from 10-11:30

a.m. or in the evenings at the Children’s

Developmental Center from 6-7:30 p.m.

Spanish classes are also available

October 2nd through November 2nd at

the Pasco Library on Tuesdays from 5-

6:30 p.m.

The free classes are open to new

parents in Benton and Franklin

Counties. Attendees will be provided

with snacks and infants are welcome.

Parents can also sign up for the Dolly

Parton Imagination Library to receive

free books. To register, call Holly Boyce

at (509) 987-2229 (BABY).

The most important 20 minutes of your day... read with a child. Guest Reviews by: Jessica Hoefer

T eam Read will increase from serving

five schools to six during the 2012-

13 school year. To accommodate the

growth, we are looking for committed

volunteers to help ensure the children

learn to read, and read well.

The program is designed to provide one-

on-one tutoring to struggling readers in

first, second and third grade. In addition

to serving Sunset View Elementary this

year, Team Read will continue to provide

services in the Kennewick School District

for children attending Amistad,

Eastgate, Edison, Hawthorne and

Southgate.

Volunteers are asked to commit to a

minimum of two 30-minute tutoring

sessions a week with one student

throughout the school year. Last year,

more than 250 students were able to

benefit from one-on-one tutoring to

keep them from falling behind in

school. More than 150 tutors

volunteer, but with students on a

waiting list, we are urging people to

consider donating their time to serve

local kids. Training is free and if you

are not able to commit consistently,

we are also in need of substitute tutors

who can fill in as needed. Bilingual

tutors are also highly encouraged to

sign up.

Research shows that a significant

number of students improve

academically when they are enrolled in

Team Read. Contact Lori Aronson at

laronson@readingfoundation.org to

sign up or call (509) 222-READ. You

can also visit the Team Read web site

at teamreadtutoring.com.

Volunteers Needed!

Program expands to serve sixth school

The most important 20 minutes of your day... read with a child.

Are Your Kids Ready? READY! for Kindergarten is a curriculum proven to boost early learning. Developed by The Children’s Reading Foundation at the request and with the support of the Kennewick School District, the program is designed to work with parents to ensure that children do not start school behind.

Investing in early intervention works! Of children whose parents attended READY! classes, 79% met the kindergarten reading readiness standard compared to 55% of children whose parents did not.

The program is so successful READY! now serves 100 school districts across the United States and Canada.

So what are you waiting for? If you have a child between the ages of birth and five years old, sign up for *FREE FALL CLASSES today at www.readyforkindergarten.org

*Classes are FREE to Kennewick residents. FREE child care is also provided.

Sign up today

If You Read It, They Will Come

Attendance grows at reading events

E ducators often describe the time

children spend away from the

classroom as the ’summer slide’. When

sunshine and sprinklers take precedence

over reading, children can lose almost a

quarter of learning during the summer

months.

The Children’s Reading Foundation

hosted three Community Reading

Events this summer to help combat

summer learning loss. Events were held

in Pasco, Richland and Kennewick and

attracted hundreds of kids and families.

Along with story time and snacks, post-

event activities kept young minds

engaged.

Every child who attended a reading

event received a free book so they could

continue to read with their families at

home in preparation for the upcoming

school year.

Special thanks to our guest readers:

Big Top the Clown, Martin Ortiz and

Girl Scouts for reading aloud.

Along with Community Reading

Events, the McDonald’s Summer

Reading Program helped children

develop a love of reading with weekly

story time from June through August.

Story time at several McDonald’s

locations from Prosser to Pasco offered

weekly themes and books to children.

Thanks to community support, we

were able to expand the McDonald’s

Summer Reading Program to include

Tepeyac Haven Apartments in Pasco,

Jefferson Park in Richland, Quail Ridge

Apartments in Kennewick and the

YMCA Martin Luther King Center and

Collegium Café in East Pasco.

The McDonald’s Summer Reading

Program is supported by a $5,000 grant

from the Three Rivers Community

Volunteer Spotlight

Foundation and a partnership with

McDonald’s restaurants.

This year, 873 books were distributed

through the program and an additional

1,182 books were given to children

attending the expanded program locations.

(Pictured Above) Elizabeth Bennett, a dedicated volunteer, reads to children at the

Quail Ridge Apartments in Kennewick. Bennett spent more than 20 hours this

summer reading with children and helping to promote literacy. She is always punctual and has a positive attitude. We are proud to have

her represent the Children’s Reading Foundation—Thank you!