Wells Rotary Club Donates $500 To WJHS's Celebration of Reading
Post date: Mar 31, 2014 8:36:40 PM
WELLS—On March 7th, Wells Junior High School, in partnership with the Wells Rotary Club, held their third annual Celebration of Reading Day.
At the start of the event, Wells Rotary President Peter Leon and five other members presented event organizer, Cindy Roche with a check for $500 to cover the cost of books that were distributed to 5th, 6th, and 7th grade classrooms. Rotary has donated $500 to this program each year.
Following the check presentation, six members of Wells Rotary and six Wells High School students who are members of Rotary’s junior organization, INTERACT, paired off to give copies of “What Color is My World, The Lost History of African-American Inventors” to various fifth grade classrooms. They also read selections from this book to students.
After the WHS students returned to their classes, Rotary members continued with visits to sixth grade and seventh grade classrooms to deliver copies of “From Norvelt to Nowhere” and “Medieval Times” respectively. Rotary members discussed what their favorite books were from childhood and spoke about the importance of literacy in their life and careers. They also spoke about what Rotary Club is, what the organization does for the community and how junior and high school students can become involved with Rotary.
“It was exciting to have them take time out of their busy day and away from their jobs to come and work with the kids,” said Cindy Roche who is a fifth grade teacher at WJHS. “Everyone is very appreciative. Both groups (Rotarians and students) gain a lot from this experience.”
Roche collaborated with Terry Hodskins, the Literary Chairperson for the Wells Rotary Club, to make Celebration of Reading Day a collaborative event once again this year.
President Leon indicated that this year’s Celebration of Reading Day was better in that it was more informative for students. “They had opportunity to interact with the Rotarians to learn about us as well as (we had the opportunity) to learn about them.” said Leon who added that he stressed the “value” of literacy with the students he met. Leon firmly believes that opportunities increase with the more one studies and learns. This includes gaining proficiency in reading and communicating.
Rotarian guest readers included Peter Leon, Suzanne Ilsley, Rick Goodrich, Ryan Liberty, George Raftopoulos, and Karyn Morin. Interact members included Anna Furness, Anna Olsen, Meghan Young, Ally O’Brien, Stephanie Woods and Melanie Godin.
Photo: (Left to right) Wells Rotary President Peter Leon, Anna Furness, Suzanne Ilsley, Anna Olsen, Rick Goodrich, Ally O’Brien, Ryan Liberty, George Raftopoulos, Meghan Young, Cindy Roche, Karyn Morin, Stephanie Woods and Melanie Godin