What You Missed at November 19th's Meeting

The meeting of the RFArea REA on November 19, 2014, commenced our new schedule of meeting once a month from August through June.  The meeting days and times are listed in your new and improved Directory sent to you earlier via email or the post office.  October, December, February, April, and June are business meetings with time for socializing. Ruth Wood has suggested some topics of conversation for those meetings that will help members get to know one another a little better.  Meetings in November, January, March, and May feature a program or a speaker, is informal, and provides lots of time to interact with the speakers and to have lunch with your friends.

JUMP START TO LITERACY

River Falls Librarian Monica LaVold and Jump Start
 to Literacy founder Tony Pedriana

RFAreaREA member Tony Pedriana presented an introduction to an organization he has initiated in River Falls called Jump Start to Literacy.  The program addresses a need not just in this community but in every community:  preparing disadvantaged children to read.  As Tony pointed out, much needs to happen before children begin school if they are going to be ready to learn to read:  children need to have a concept of how print works (how books are oriented--front to back, upside down and right side up, left to right, pictures vs. words); letter recognition (not just singing the alphabet song but being able to recognize letters out of order); phonemic awareness (understanding separate sounds and how they can be manipulated); rapid naming of objects and colors; recall (remembering spoken information and being able to express it).  If pre-school children don't possess such skills, they will begin their education at a deficit.

After 30 years as a teacher and a principal in the Milwaukee Public schools, Tony wrote a book based on his experience and intensive research on reading instruction entitled Leaving Johnny Behind:  Overcoming Barriers to Literacy and Reclaiming At-Risk Readers (Rowan and Littlefield, 2010).  A practical outgrowth of his experience and scholarship is his Jump Start to Literacy initiative.  Working closely with Monica LaVold, the Community Liaison and Youth Services Librarian at the River Falls Public Library, and with county social agencies such as the Pierce County WIC office, WestCap, and the local food pantry, Tony has identified at-risk children in the community and is working to prepare these children for reading.

Through a series of grants, Tony's organization has been able to obtain lots of wonderful children's books to be distributed where the children are.  When parents come to the WIC office, they can pick up a book for each of their children.   At the monthly library reading events, parents can also select a book for each of their children.  WestCap social workers have been given basic literacy instruction and take books with them to family visits and encourage parents to read to their children.  RFArea REA members provided ideas for even more venues for book distribution--Turning Point, Our Neighbors' Place, and others.

Jump Start to Literacy can use some help with record keeping, book inventory, book distribution and maintenance at the various sites, and at the library events.  If anyone is interested, contact Tony Pedriana at anaped44@sbcglobal.net or (715) 426-7363.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

• Volunteerism was the theme of the day for our meeting.  Lots of suggestions were offered for those of us who have been thinking about more ways to get involved in the community.
• Salvation Army Bell Ringing:  Go to ringbells.org.  Ringers are needed at Dick’s Market, Family Fresh, and Shopko beginning November 26.
• Second Chances (715-426-5463) and Treasures From the Heart (715-425-9771) need volunteers to sort, put clothing on hangers, stock shelves, etc.
• River Falls Area Hospital (715-307-6000) needs volunteers to cover the reception desk and tend the gift kiosk.  Contact Erin Jennings.
• River Falls Public Library (715-425-0905) has a brochure available listing the many ways volunteers are used:  monitor the gallery, help with the bi-annual book sale, aid in shelf maintenance, assist as story-time readers, and perform other tasks required at the library.  
• River Falls Community Food Pantry (715-425-6880) needs volunteers to work the counter, pick up and deliver food, and do other tasks.
• River Falls Community Television Channel 16 (715-5400) needs volunteers to videotape community activities and to create content for the channel.
• Our Neighbors’ Place Day Center (715-426-9000) gives away free clothing to community in need.  Volunteers needed to sort clothing, distribute clothing, and attend the facility.
• The Kinnickinnic Backpack Program is helping 87 children in River Falls get through the weekends with a little more food.  Contact Karen Brohaugh (715-425-2539) for information about volunteering and contributing to the program.