Read for the Record

Every $10 donation to the Pearson Charitable Foundation made through a special PDK/FEA website supports early childhood education and the PDK Walk for Education. The Walk helps fund scholarships for educators through the PDK Educational Foundation. Plus, you'll receive a copy of Corduroy so you can join others worldwide on October 2nd in creating the largest ever shared reading experience.

Last Year's Success Stories

Joseph Cofield
College Reach Out Program Coordinator, Bonita Springs Middle School, Bonita Springs, Florida

One of the greatest joys that I received from working with my College Reach Out Program (CROP) students in 2007 was coordinating the successful Read for the Record project. The success of the reading program for our students has allowed a partnership with the Bonita Springs Elementary School and our Bonita Springs Middle School students to develop into something very special.
 
The CROP students did three highly successful reading activities (September 20, November 12, and December 12, 2007) with the elementary students that have generated much excitement within the entire community. The parents, teachers, and students talked so much about the successful reading activity that the Lee County Sheriff's Office came to our school and presented the CROP students with the “Do The Right Thing Award” for their achievements in helping others.
 
As an educator, I am very proud of the reading program because it brings out the best of the students and it also allows the middle school students to give back to the elementary students some of the wonderful things they are now learning. As I heard many of the students saying that they want to be teachers, I know that all of the hard work and coordinating are well worth the investment. I am proud of all the work from my students, but knowing the seed of success is planted for future teachers and other successful professions by a group of middle school students who have a joy for reading is really something very special. The 12 CROP students have managed to pull together an entire community with a simple act of reading. They proved it does not take a lot, but it does take a commitment, and these students have a commitment to reading.

Below are accounts from two students who took part in the program.

Antonia Jacobse
CROP student, Bonita Springs Middle School, Bonita Springs, Florida

Walking into the classroom with less than 30 little eyes staring back at me, I turned to Mrs. Partica's class while the Bonita Springs Elementary News was on the black t.v. I sat on the brown rolling chair and waited until the news was off and it was time to read. The first graders sat criss-cross and waited for me to begin The Story of Ferdinand. They sat patiently and asked a lot of questions, and then it was all of a sudden over. I left the classroom with a feeling that nobody else can feel but me. Reading to the little kids is a great program because just with this program, you know that even at this stage in life, you can achieve anything. It is outstanding that you can also know that these little kids look up to you as a role model and that you are like a leader to them.  I am thankful for the program and monthly reading because knowing that I have this, I know that I can achieve anything.  

Maddie Taylor
CROP student, Bonita Springs Middle School, Bonita Springs, Florida
 
My name is Maddie Taylor, and I read at the Bonita Springs Elementary School. I think reading to the kids at B.S.E. is a really great way to promote kids to grow up reading. I have gone and read to the kids three times now and the most recent time I went, I walked into the classroom and got a hug from every kid. I thought it was so sweet. I just happen to know the teacher very well. My brother also goes to the school I read to, and I have gone to his classroom, too. I love having the little kids look up to me. I felt very proud to be someone who gets to be a role model. I know I always wanted someone to look up to.

The class I read to is very special to me. Their hearts are in the right places and they are so kind. I can't believe that those are second graders; they are so mature for their age. I would like to say thank you to the kids in Mrs. Hazen's class for being a great class to read to!      

Maggie McGuire
Assistant professor, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas

My early childhood education classes participated in the Read for the Record. Over 1,143 students were read to and each class received their own personal copy of the book, The Story of Ferdinand.

Suzanne Landrum
Literacy facilitator, Kadena Elementary School, Okinawa, Japan

I read the book to 12 classes on September 20. I arranged for our librarian (information specialist) to read to 11 classes that day and for our counselor read to five classes. This is a picture of me reading the book to a second grade class. As I go in classrooms now, however, weeks and weeks later, many students from the classes in which I read want to know where my flowers are. They recognize me as the school's literacy facilitator, but know something is missing and they want those flowers back in my hair! Several have asked me, "When you come back, will you put some flowers in your hair?" During the Read Aloud, I made sure that the students knew that smelling flowers was what Ferdinand wanted to do, in spite of the other bulls (and his mom) wanting him to be rough. That was his 'thing' and it wasn't harming anyone. We had big discussions on choices, and students shared what THEY liked to do—what was their "thing" that others may have found it to be silly. We reinforced the metaphor of the flowers, and being content with what you love, despite what others think. It was a GREAT book, and GREAT day, for feeling good. I am already looking forward to next year!

St. Charles North High School FEA Chapter
St. Charles, Illinois

Eight high school students from St. Charles North went to Wild Rose Elementary School on September 20 to read to 661 students, helping Jumpstart to fulfill their reading quota goal. Groups of multiple classes gathered at different sessions to listen to the book being read. During these sessions, St. Charles North readers discussed the meaning of the story with the children and provided them with a Ferdinand bookmark to encourage them to read and always remember to be themselves.

Candace Perkola
Buford, Georgia

Our school district (Gwinnett County Public Schools) provided readers for the Ferdinand story via the TV station for all our schools. My students enjoyed hearing someone else read. We also read the book in class. When we have "troubles" between classmates we often remind them to just pause and "smell the flowers."

Ellen Goodman
Smart Start coordinator, Starkville, Mississippi

We are an Early Reading First Program that serves 320 three and four-year-olds in three preschool centers. We downloaded the activities from the Read for the Record website that were appropriate for the young children and distributed them to the teachers along with the purchased copies of the book for all 16 classrooms. The local newspaper also covered the event for us and gave us front page coverage the next day.

Carol Wengerd
Salisbury, Pennsylvania

I teach high school, so I gave the book to a second grade teacher. She read the story to her class and they really enjoyed it. They asked if they could draw pictures for me, and they each drew a picture representing their favorite part of the story and wrote what that was. The pictures are wonderful and my high school students enjoyed seeing them also.

Vicki Kilbury
Las Vegas, Nevada

I am most elated about our collaboration with area elementary schools where we are pursuing our PDK chapter goal of reaching out to Hispanic educators, students, and families. We are trying to bring diversity to our chapter and have entered into numerous project proposals that are accomplishing this goal. Read for the Record was one activity in pursuit of this goal. The book was read to students in both English and Spanish. Discussions were facilitated as to the differences of the versions. An extension of the Read for the Record activity led to the development of a thematic unit based on Ferdinand the Bull . Social studies standards and the Bill of Rights were stressed. This project was in conjunction with UNLV interns and was used in their student teaching experience.

Gerry Lonsway
Toledo, Ohio

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf was read in classrooms across the country on September 20. FEA clubs and PDK members in the Toledo, Ohio, region shared in this activity. The Toledo PDK chapter purchased five books for this purpose. After the reading, each book was donated to the school or library in which it was read.

Gerry Lonsway, FEA coordinator of the Toledo PDK chapter, read to 25 senior citizens at the Oregon Senior Center and two third grade classrooms at Allen Elementary School in the Genoa School District (18 students and 20 students) for a total of 63 people. The book was donated to the Allen Elementary school library.

Jodi Heavener and her students read the book to 59 students in three different family and consumer science classes at Waite High School and donated the book to the new Locke Branch Library.

Kris Ansara read the book to her Intro to Education sophomores (12) and Exploring Ed Seniors (10) and donated the book to the classroom education resources.

Teresa Kurtz's students read the book to area pre-schools—Hope Day Care, Discovery Center and Something Special Learning Center—and donated the book.

Matt Weaver read the book to his child's preschool at the Child Development Center of BGSU and donated the book to the Child Development Center of BGSU.

Sherry Seiler, president of the Toledo PDK chapter, read the book to one fifth grade classroom (24 students), two first grade classrooms (a total of 43 students), and one third grade classroom (24 students) at Holloway Elementary School. The book was donated to the school library.

Sherry also read to three second grade classrooms (a total of 65 students), two third grade classrooms (a total of 47 students), one fourth grade classroom (24 students), and a kindergarten classroom (22) students at Crissey Elementary School. The book was donated to the school library.

In summary, more than 324 students were read the book as a result of the Toledo PDK chapter #1037 and the metropolitan Toledo area FEA chapters. This is another project of cooperation between the Toledo PDK Chapter #1037 and the Toledo metropolitan area FEA chapters.