Children's Literacy Round-Up: June 2

Here are recent community literacy activities that have caught my eye. Have you noticed that I mostly focus on good news in the articles that I pick? I hope that they brighten your day.

• A May 26th article in the Kent County Daily Times describes a high school student's "Capstone Project". Kayla Tucker received a $500 grant from the NEA and used it to create several literacy events. "I've always been interested in literacy and reading children's books, so I figured this would be a good topic for me to do for my Capstone project," she said. What I want to know is, why wasn't I out there doing things to promote literacy when I was in high school? These kids humble me.
• A May 28th article by Christi Landry in the Daily Iberian (Louisiana) lauds a local couple honored for their volunteer work and their commitment to children. "Ken Smith is coordinator of the St. Mary Literacy Council, and Linda Smith is the president of the board of directors. Both are volunteer positions. The couple works with MOMSREAD, a program aimed at introducing children to the advantages of reading."
• This one was brought to my attention by Ian Ybarra from the Never Eat Alone team. Author and marketing guru Seth Godin recently edited a book called The Big Moo : Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable. All author proceeds from the book are going to charity, including the charity Room to Read. According to their website, Room to Read "seeks to intervene early in the lives of children and help provide them with an education and the lifelong gift of literacy." Seth recently posted on his blog about the impact that the book's proceeds have made on a town in India, where the Room to Read team built a new computer room. 
• Up & Coming Magazine (Fayetteville, NC) recently had a story about the Cumberland County Library's summer reading clubs. What I found interesting about the story was that the library is running summer reading programs for children, teens, and adults. "Encouraging parents to further their children's literacy may be an unplanned-for benefit of the Summer Reading Clubs, but it also helps the program to appeal to adult summer readers as well. The involvement and example of adults can only help trickle down to younger readers." Program participants of all ages are eligible for small prizes, and will be entered in a series of drawings for larger prizes, too.
• The May 30th News Journal (Wilmington, DE) has a nice article by Edward L. Kenney about an 80-year-old woman (Helen Eliason) who recently started a Children's Literacy Initiative Fund in her local community. She is particularly focused on helping very young children to learn to love books, so that they don't start school at a disadvantage.
• The Baltimore Times Online published a June 2nd article by Patreka White about Maryland's 2006 Youth Leaders for Literacy grants (through the NEA), awarded to 20 students for projects "to incorporate literacy and reading and the importance of it in their communities and then conduct the reading-related activities". Programs highlighted included the Book Buddy Book Club, which aims to get children and their parents to read the same books, and discuss them. For more information about these literacy grants, you can visit the NEA website.

Have a great weekend!