Birmingham Rotaract » Ready 2 Read

Become a 2nd Grade Reading Buddy

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:40:01 +0000

Did you know that for only one hour a month you can help fight illiteracy? Have you always wanted to be involved with Rotaract’s international award winning signature service project—Ready 2 Read? If the answers are yes, you need to be a Reading Buddy.

We are recruiting Reading Buddies for the upcoming school year. Each Reading Buddy is asked to commit to reading to their assigned classroom one a month. Reading Buddies are vital to the success of Ready 2 Read, and as our project, we need all our members to volunteer.

If you are interested in being a Reading Buddy, please register online. Friends, family and coworkers are also encouraged to sign up. For more information, please contact Richard Davis richard.davis@willis.com.

Reading Buddy Facts & Questions

Rotaract Hears from Birmingham Students about Ready 2 Read

admin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:30:42 +0000

The Rotaract Club of Birmingham and its service partner, Better Basics, recently received letters from several students who benefited from the Club’s award-winning service project, Ready 2 Read. Each year, Rotaract helps place full libraries in the second grade classrooms of Birmingham schools. The Club also provides volunteer Reading Buddies, who take time each month to read to the children. Rotaractors interested in becoming a Reading Buddy can register online.

June 26th Service – Ready 2 Read Book Clean Up & Inventory

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:32:01 +0000

With year two of Ready 2 Read winding down, it’s time to prepare the classroom libraries for next year. Join our newest members for their first service project on Saturday, June 26^th from 8:00 a.m. to noon at our annual Ready 2 Read Book Clean Up and Inventory. This service project protects the $125,000 investment made by the Club for classroom libraries and offers an opportunity to mingle with new members.

Get Involved in Fundraising for the Rotaract Club of Birmingham Foundation

admin — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:07:08 +0000

The Rotaract Club of Birmingham Foundation exists to receive donations from the general public, publicly supported organizations, and governmental units and make disbursements for the service projects of the Rotaract Club of Birmingham. The Rotaract Club of Birmingham Foundation was created as an entity to clearly separate service funds from club operating funds of the Rotaract Club of Birmingham.

We are currently kicking off a fundraising campaign:

Funding uses will be:
- To fully fund the international award-winning Ready 2 Read ($40K needed), and
- To seed our next signature service project, currently in development
Our goal is to raise at least $50,000

We need our members’ help to succeed… and all of our members can participate:

Join the fundraising or Gala committees
Recruit sponsors
- Their employers
- Other community leaders
Give personally
Bring friends to the Masquerade Ball

Participating in the fundraising campaign benefits our club and its members by:

Developing fundraising skills
Developing relationships with community leaders
Being involved in great projects in the community
More friends at Ball = more fun

Contributing to the Rotaract Foundation benefits donors by:

Providing outstanding public exposure, Gala tickets, other benefits (see sponsorship benefits)
Supporting outstanding projects in our community (award-winning for both literacy and young leadership development)
Providing tax deductions (Rotaract Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt org, so all donations are fully tax-deductible)
Putting all of their dollars to work (Rotaract is an all-volunteer organization so 100% of their gift goes toward our service projects)

The fundraising committee has four teams that our members can help with:

Rotaract Employers- R.B. Walker
Other Corporations- Josh Slocum
Grant Makers- Justin Nelson
Individuals- Niki Rogers

The culmination will be the Masquerade Ball on March 20, 2010, an opportunity to:

Raise funds for the Foundation
Raise awareness for the club and its service works
Have fun and celebrate our efforts!

Below are the three primary documents to be used widely with our fundraising efforts. Now that you have them, try them out on your employers and other community friends.

Ready 2 Read Service Project Receives International Recognition

admin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:15:59 +0000

Rotary International (RI) will recognize The Rotaract Club of Birmingham’s signature service project, Ready 2 Read, as the 2009 International Winner of Outstanding Rotaract Projects. Rotaract’s Ready 2 Read project has placed libraries in every second-grade classroom in the Birmingham City School system. Local club President V. J. Graffeo will present the project and accept the prestigious award on behalf of the club from RI President, D. K. Lee during the Rotaract Preconvention portion of RI’s 100^th Convention in Birmingham, England on June 19, 2009.

“Receiving this award truly places a stamp of validation on our club’s efforts to improve literacy in Birmingham,” said Graffeo. “As a relatively young Rotaract club within the world of Rotary, we are especially proud that our members’ diligent work has now gained international recognition.”

In announcing the award, RI President D.K. Lee of Seoul, Korea wrote, “Your experience with ‘Ready 2 Read’ will inspire Rotaractors around the world to continue their efforts to meet the needs of their communities.”

In 2005, Rotaract chose literacy as its service project focus and targeted second-grade reading comprehension after studies showed that age group was a critical time in educational development. Rotaract then launched Ready 2 Read to give young students necessary tools to become better readers. By the start of the 2008-2009 school year, Rotaract completed placing 15,000 books in the second-grade classrooms of Birmingham City Schools. With libraries now in all second-grade classrooms and “Reading Buddy” volunteers, Ready 2 Read continues to inspire 4,000 students each year to read.

The first Ready 2 Read libraries were placed at Glen Iris Elementary School in October 2007. According to Glen Iris Principal, Michael Wilson, PhD, independent reading has increased dramatically since the implementation of Ready 2 Read.

“The great thing about the classroom libraries is that they have expanded greatly the reading choices for our children,” Wilson said. “They have broadened the spectrum of literature that is available with high interest texts that the children really like. The students really like the independent feeling they get from choosing their own books to read.”

The total program cost for Ready 2 Read was $250,000. Funds for the program were raised through the annual Rotaract Gala, membership contributions, sponsors and partners. One hundred percent of all donations go directly to the Ready 2 Read program because Rotaract occurs no staff or overhead expenses in administering this project.

The Downtown Rotary Club of Birmingham and Rotary International sponsor the Rotaract Club of Birmingham. Downtown Rotary President, Bill Jones, said, “Speaking for all the members of The Rotary Club of Birmingham, we are exceedingly proud of, but not surprised by, the achievements of the Rotaract Club. This award from Rotary International is an affirmation of their solidarity, their creativity, and their dedication to the ideal of service. Since their founding, they have continued to grow and carry out projects in our community that are outstanding.”

Reading Buddies Update

admin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:07:28 +0000

Your last visit to read to your classroom should be scheduled in April. At this time you will pick up the reading log sheets from each student as well as the Ready 2 Read library. You should take a quick inventory of the books by counting them. There should be a total of 128 books. If any are missing, ask the teacher to look for them in the room. The Ready 2 Read library books have large Ready 2 Read stickers on the back of the books. You can ask the teacher if some students can assist you by taking the bins to your vehicle.

You should then return the library, the student reading log sheets and a list of which books are missing from the library to the Better Basics office at 200 Beacon Parkway West, Suite 200, Birmingham, AL 35209. Click here for a Ready 2 Read book list to assist you with the inventory. Some of you had a few different books in your library and a few of the books on this list were not a part of your library, just do the best you can at determining which books are missing. During the summer Better Basics will clean the books, restock the libraries of any books that are missing and get them ready to go to 2^nd grade classrooms next year. Be sure to let Better Basics know when you drop off the libraries whether your classroom kept up with all the books. They will be rewarded with an ice pop party. If it fits within your schedule, Better Basics encourages you to schedule to attend the ice pop party in May with your classroom.

Better Basics was fortunate this year to have extra volunteers who were considered “Bonus Readers” in many classrooms. If you were a bonus reader and did not deliver the library to your school, keep in mind that when you schedule your visit for April that the original classroom volunteer may have already picked up the library. You will need to bring a book of your own to read to the class. If you don’t have access to children’s books, let Better Basics know. Better Basics has many great books at their office thaty they could lend to you to read to your class room. You will not need to pick up the library.

Thank you to everyone for your dedication to children this year. Better Basics has received such positive feed-back from the 2^nd grade teachers and from students about the quality of the library and the value that you, as a volunteer, added to the classroom. We hope you will all be willing to return as a Ready 2 Read volunteer next year. If you have any questions please contact Sherri Blank at 944-2928 ext. 307. Again, thanks so much for all you do.

Ready 2 Read

admin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:04:44 +0000

In 2005, Rotaract chose literacy as its service project focus, targeting second grade reading comprehension after studies showed that age group was a critical time in a student’s educational development. Rotaract wanted to give young students the tools that they needed to become better readers, and direct access to more books in their classrooms was the obvious first step. From that idea, Rotaract’s “classroom library” concept was born in form of the Ready 2 Read program.

Rotaract, through Rotaract Club of Birmingham Foundation, has raised more than $200,000 for the program and in September 2008 each second grade classroom in Birmingham City Schools received a classroom library with 129 books. Rotaract members and volunteers delivered the books to each class and return to read once a month. Better Basics has partnered with Rotaract on the Ready 2 Read project and will help to administer the program.