Local Literacy Programs
Backpacks For Kids
EMRC puts together 8 backpacks for 8 deserving students in local schools and distributes them, via counselors, the first week of school. This is an International Literacy Day project. Schools which receive backpacks are: Head Start, Lincoln, Morgan, Mt. Stewart, Valley View, Damman, Kittitas, and Thorp.
List of school supplies
Contact(s): Judy Wright and Kevin Weberg
Books Freeing Minds
EMRC is beginning a relationship with the county corrections facility to help build up their library.
List of approved books
Contact(s): Emily Brown-Pratz
Circle of Success
EMRC provides 9 registrations in Circle of Success to Kittitas County Children. In addition, in 2009, EMRC used a Rotary District Simplified grant and matching money to secure Circle of Success special memberships for three local elementary school libraries. These memberships provide Circle of Success monthly books for school families who have birth through pre-school aged children. Finally, through the Teammates for Kids Foundation, Ryan Lindell (placekicker for the NFL Buffalo Bills) donated $10,000 to four-year old children in the region to continue Circle of Success memberships. Six, four year old, children in Kittitas Country received these special memberships. www.circleofsuccessinc.org
Contact(s): Jerry Brong and Judy Backlund
Local Literacy Programs
Discovery Middle Level Learning Center
EMRC supports struggling middle level learners in the District’s alternative program through mentoring, supplies & various literacy related activities.
Contact(s): John Graf
Erleen Beckley GED Scholarship Fund
The GED program is designed to help individuals who are in a correctional facility earn a GED. This certificate is equivalent to a high school deploma. Students meet one-on-one with an instructor to improve skills in reading, writing, and math and to prepare for the GED test. The Morning Rotary Scholarship Fund was established to pay the $85 testing fee for those students who cannot access the funds. It is a very meaningful way to help someone improve the quality of his/her life.
Contact(s): Erleen Beckley
International Literacy Day Baby
In conjunction with International Literacy Day, EMRC gives the first Baby born in Kittitas County on International Literacy day (usually September 8 or 9) gets a membership in Circle of Success Lets Read program
(One book every month –for one child - from the "Dolly Parton Imagination Library")
Contact(s): Jerry Brong
Junior Achievement
Operating since 1919 nationally, and 1953 in Washington, Junior Achievement (JA) is a nonprofit organization providing a series of business, economics and life-skills programs to enhance the education of young people. JA educates and inspires young people to succeed in a global economy.
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Local Literacy Programs
Junior Achievement
The Kittitas County Rotary clubs have sponsored and taught JA at Easton, Cle Elum/Roslyn, Thorpe and Ellensburg schools over the past five years.
An exciting new program is coming to Yakima and yes Kittitas County students can take advantage of it. It is JA World!Imagine a city run by fifth graders. Imagine one of these young consumers rushing to the bank to deposit a paycheck after working a shift at a local retail store or another who works at the local newspaper frantically rushing to meet the story deadline before the paper goes to press. Imagine a fifth-grade mayor meeting with business leaders to discuss the current business climate. Now, imagine eighth-grade students immersed in the experience of creating and maintaining a budget for themselves and their families based on their salary. Imagine one student struggling with the decision to buy a home, comparing
health care providers for the family and determining which auto insurance is needed for a new car.
Creating these experiences for students has been an on-going dream of Junior Achievement. Now, with JA World completed, this dream is finally a reality. JA World opened its doors on November 16, 2004 in Auburn Washington. And a new facility will be up and running in Yakima in 2010.
JA World is a new vision of teaching and learning about the American enterprise and entrepreneurial spirit. It is a dynamic, experiential learning practicum that incorporates both a hands-on and classroom curriculum approach that fully engages students in imagining and investigating their futures.
Contact(s): Judy Wright, Kevin Weberg, and Dave Stambaugh
Local Literacy Programs
Reading Across Continents
Contact(s): Kevin Weberg and Phil Backlund
Tubs for Tots
Literacy tubs are provided to parents for use with their children at the local Head Start/ECEAP.
Contact(s): Teri Walker and Charles Hill
Habitat for Humanity Book Project
Ellensburg Morning Rotary has initiated a new project in partnership with the local Habitat for Humanity board. We will be donating a bookcase and books for each Habitat home, beginning with the completion of the home that is currently under construction. Books will be chosen with the specific needs of each family member in mind. Cookbooks, home repair reference books, and reading material targeted toward the individual family members will be chosen.
Rotary member Nancy Graham, owner of Pearl Street Books & Gifts, will donate bookcases for the first two homes. The next Habitat homeowners, a single mother and 16-year old daughter, will be presented with bookcases and books when they move it; the home is projected to be complete in March 2011.
Books for Babes
Ten income-eligible babies, some who have special needs and are enrolled in Early Head Start, in conjunction with Pearl Street Books, each receive one book a month for one year. A user-friendly bookmark that shares tips for parents on how-to and the importance of reading to their babies is included with each book.