Learn how to build success and motivation for emerging readers
The Greenwich United Way will host the Reading Champions Summit & Volunteer Workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 12 to 2:30 p.m., at Greenwich Town Hall for the more than 120 Reading Champions volunteers, interested prospective volunteers and the public to foster better understanding of literacy development while identifying and meeting the needs of emerging readers.
“We are proud to host this informative event during our eleventh year of Reading Champions,” said David Rabin, President and CEO of the Greenwich United Way. “Over the years our literacy support program has grown in importance and size and is now active in all 11 Greenwich Elementary Public Schools and 4 after-school programs. Continued program expansion is planned to reach the unmet needs of even more students, positively impacting their lives and future academic outcomes. The growing number of trained volunteers provide support through one-on-one weekly sessions that students benefit from throughout the school year. Reading Champions helps develops the skill necessary for emerging readers to succeed and inspires greater confidence.”
Literacy expert Joan Kelley, Ed. M from Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), will lead the summit, outlining insights about three types of skills necessary to enhance early literacy, how the changing demands of texts can make reading a challenge in the later years, and why early specific and targeted skill support can make a significant difference in both reading success and reading motivation. Attendees will hear about the latest research on how children learn to read and gain a clear understanding of how and why parents and educators need to work together to truly impact reading outcomes.
Following the presentation, Reading Champions volunteer tutors will run a workshop, dividing in groups to discuss best practices in meeting the needs of their grade-level students. The session will invite sharing and learning acquired through one-on-one weekly tutoring visits.
Louise Hyden, a Reading Champions volunteer, and her husband Robert recognize the value of this literacy program firsthand, having raised their family in Greenwich. They operate Cobs Bread Bakery operations (cobsbread.com) in lower Fairfield County and will generously donate delicious fresh baked goods for the event. Cobs Bread Bakery operates in Stamford and will be expanding locally to Riverside this spring.
Chicken Soup for the Soul will also be generously donating an inspiring book for the event entitled Volunteering and Giving Back complete with 101 inspiring stories that celebrate volunteers and those who give back; illustrating how the biggest beneficiaries are the givers themselves. This publisher of the famed book series with over 100 million books sold to date in the U.S. and Canada, motivates giving through positive storytelling “changing the world one story at a time®.”
Reading Champions with a core of over 120 volunteers deserve recognition for their contributions. They are the real heroes that change their world, one student and one weekly reading session at a time. The program provides more than 15,000 moments of direct impact between volunteer tutors and elementary students every year. The results are far reaching, including motivating greater reading fluency and inspiring academic confidence to ultimately impact greater student success in the classroom for years to come.
To learn more about the impact of Reading Champions visit: greenwichunitedway.org/the-impact-of-the-greenwich-united-way-reading-champions-program
For more information about the Literacy Summit Event on Feb. 26, view rctutorblog.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/rc-feb-seminar-2019-flyer-crop-for-widget.pdf.
Attendees are asked to RSVP to cmeunier@GreenwichUnitedWay.org or call 203-869-2221.
