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Chapters: Autumn 2009

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Contents

Mayor Nickels Gets Jazzed About Reading

Preschoolers at Northgate Head Start were recently privileged to see a little-known side of Seattle’s outgoing Mayor, Greg Nickels--the jazzy side. Mayor Nickels was right at home with the four- and five-year-olds, joining in the fun and games and talking easily with the children.

To demonstrate his concern for reading and education, Mayor Nickels attended Page Ahead’s Story Time event at Northgate Head Start. Sitting on a small plastic chair, he read a story about jazz to a very appreciative audience of preschoolers.

The theme of the Story Time was Jazz; appropriately, the Mayor read Ben’s Trumpet by Rachel Isadora, a classic, black-and-white tale about a boy who longs for a trumpet of his own. As part of the jazz theme, the mayor and a Page Ahead volunteer sang jazzy songs with the preschool class. Then they made maracas out of beans in a cup. The Mayor helped the children create their maracas, even making one of his own.

Northgate Head Start teacher Debra Sund explained to her class that the mayor was the “boss of the city.” One boy asked for the mayor’s name. “Greg,” he replied, and the boy nodded confidently.

Story Times play an important role in Page Ahead’s programs. According to Shana Faulkner, Page Ahead’s Family Involvement Program Manager, “Story Times show children that reading is fun, it’s not just homework. They get to see that people other than their teachers actually do read!”

Since 2002, Page Ahead has trained and supported community volunteers who have provided quality, on-going Story Times to more than 4,000 children in need throughout Washington State.

Last year, 28 volunteers read to more than 500 children in King and Spokane counties. This year, Shana is excited to be expanding the Story Time program to new areas outside King County. Story Times, coming to a school near you!

Story Time volunteers are needed in Everett, Federal Way, Kent, Mount Vernon, and Tacoma. Call Shana Faulkner at 206.461.0123 if you would like to volunteer to read!

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Community Partners

What a book-filled summer! Thank you to the following for your generous efforts to make sure we start off the school year with lots of brand new books to give away!

We were thrilled by the energy and generosity of local independent booksellers and their patrons, and the authors and illustrators who helped Page Ahead celebrate National Children’s Book Week 2009. Together, we collected 1,362 new books to give away to current and future readers, and already, most of the 20 participating indies have signed on to celebrate with us again next year! Chapters of Appreciation for the new books and super-volunteer Lisa Lundquist!

Bryant Elementary fifth-graders once again rallied their fellow students and collected almost 2,000 new books in their Book-a-Neers campaign. This year marked a special anniversary for the school-wide book drive: this year’s fifth graders were in kindergarten the first year they hosted the book drive. Thanks, mateys and Captain Garlid!

We feel fortunate medical supplier eSurg encouraged employees to participate in a community service project to benefit Page Ahead! They recruited their friends at Another Source to help them collect ten new children’s books for each year in business, and beat their goal by a whopping 41%! Thank you, eSurg, for keeping Page Ahead well supplied!

We continue to be very grateful for the generosity of Boeing and PACCAR employees. They really come through to beat their goals and help fill our shelves just in time for back-to-school!

In addition, we thank the following for their recent book drives and fundraisers:

Call LeAnne at 206.461.0123 to find out more about hosting your own book drive!

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Book Review

Eragon

A book review by Julian Pritchard

Eragon was very fun for me to read. I think it’s amazing that Christopher Paolini started writing Eragon when he was only fifteen. It has four hundred ninety seven pages! I liked it because there was a lot of magic. Another reason that I liked Eragon was because Christopher Paolini used a lot of describing words, but also let you use your imagination. For example, the book says that the baby dragon was a deep sapphire color. It does not say what it looked like, so you can use your imagination. I think that the most exciting part was at the end, when Eragon and Durza were sword fighting and Saphira, with Arya on her back smashed through the ceiling and breathed fire for the first time. If you like magic and adventure books, you would probably like Eragon.

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Corporate Profile

Bellevue Macy’s is a Star!

Page Ahead thanks our friends at Macy’s in Bellevue Square for their outstanding efforts to bring new books to children in need. Macy’s is partnering with Reading is Fundamental across the U.S. to encourage children to read; and Page Ahead is pleased to be the Washington State recipient of those donations.

The Book A Brighter Future campaign is an annual promotion held at Macy’s stores during the back-to-school season to help raise money to provide reading resources to the children who need them most.

Of all the Macy’s stores in Washington State, the Bellevue Square Macy’s is a star! Led by store manager Scott Walker, the enthusiastic associates at Macy’s in Bellevue not only met their goal, but generated more donations than any other store in the region. The Bellevue Square Macy’s has welcomed Page Ahead to visit the store, speak at meetings, talk with associates, and even wander the store chatting with customers.

Books and reading are issues that hit home for many Macy’s associates. “I have always admired heroes and always wanted to be someone’s [hero],” said one Macy’s associate. “Through the RIF program and Page Ahead, I have been able to achieve that goal.” Others spoke of their own families and how much reading has meant to them, their children and their grandchildren.

We celebrate Macy’s commitment to education. The outstanding efforts of Macy’s Bellevue associates will give thousands of kids in need the chance to read. So the next time you find yourself in Bellevue Square, be sure to stop in and say thanks to our friends at Macy’s!

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Dish Up Literacy 2009: September 24th

Order an extra entree to go--it’s for the kids, after all! By eating at a participating restaurant on Thursday, September 24, you, your family, and your friends can make it possible for deserving kids to own new books. At least 20% of your meal will benefit Page Ahead, so indulge yourself--all in the name of children’s literacy!

Participants:

Ballard & Queen Anne

Capitol Hill & Madison Park

Columbia City

Downtown Seattle & SODO

Greenwood & Phinney Ridge

Wallingford

Wedgwood

Issaquah

Lewis County

Snohomish County

Spokane County

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Staff Spotlight

My name is Eileen Cho and I am an intern at Page Ahead. I enjoy swimming, fencing, playing the viola, and being involved in the community through Girl Scouts, school clubs, the Boys & Girls Club, Rotary, Lions, and the city council. I am fluent in Korean and I study Spanish. I love traveling and the most recent country I have visited was Costa Rica, where I fell in love with the people and the culture.

I decided to apply for Teens in Public Service because I wanted to be involved in a long-lasting project where I could actually make a significant difference. I never actually thought I would get the internship because 400+ kids applied, but I was one out of 40! Here at Page Ahead I am eager to learn about how a non-profit organization works, how to organize big events, and to further use my Dreamweaver [software], public speaking, and organizational skills. I am super excited!

In college I plan to major in neuroscience and minor in music and Spanish, and then finally attend medical school. I hope to earn an M.D. and M.P.H. so that I can travel and help people around the globe!

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Reading Tip

Be a reader yourself. Children need reading role models!

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Perks for Page Ahead Supporters

Bring Your Party--and Books--to Life!

Mention Page Ahead and receive a 10% discount on Book-It’s touring shows. These short performances are perfect for birthday parties, companie picnics, etc. For one all-inclusive fee, Book-It will bring one 45-minute show--complete with costumes and scenery--plus one 45-minute interactive workshop right to your door. For more information:

Book-It Repertory Theater
www.book-it.org
Box office: 206.216.0833

Other Happenings and Events

The Children’s Museum
September 19 to 27

Celebrate literacy at TCM in Seattle Center! Enjoy special reading activities and a discount off all books purchased in their gift shop. You may even get to see a special reading! Additionally, bring in your Book-It ticket stub on September 26 and receive $1 off admission. Special thanks to Executive Development Institute for making this event possible.

Book-It Repertory Theater
September 26 and October 20 to November 22

Celebrate National Book Month by bringing (or buying) a new children’s book to donate while enjoying the meddling antics of Jane Austen’s Emma! Says Austen about her famed matchmaker, “The real evils, indeed, of Emma’s situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself.”

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Seattle Children’s Theater

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

What do you get when a precocious mouse and a kind boy spend an afternoon together? You get a terrific new partnership between Page Ahead and the Seattle Children’s Theatre.

Page Ahead is pleased to announce that SCT will help raise awareness of the importance of books and reading and bring books to children in need through their production of “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” From October 15 to November 29, 2009, you, as a supporter of Page Ahead, can receive a special Community Partner discount, a savings of nearly 15% per ticket, when you attend this hilarious play based on the much-loved children’s book by Laura Joffe Numeroff.

The Seattle Children’s Theatre is encouraging patrons to bring a new children’s book to any public performance of the play or purchase a book to be donated from the Stage Door Store. So if you visit our partners at SCT, be sure to thank them for helping give kids in need the chance to read.

“If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” is recommended for ages 3 and up. Please call the ticket office at 206.441.3322 and mention Page Ahead to take advantage of this offer. Visit www.sct.org for more information.

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Did You Know?

You can send a book to a child every month!

Visit www.pageahead.org/donate.php and sign up to give an automatic monthly or quarterly donation. Remember, every $5 you donate gives a book to a child in need.

Spotlight on Spokane

Page Ahead welcomes Tameka Dunlap to our Spokane community. Tameka has joined Page Ahead as our newest Community Partnership VISTA representative. This means Tameka will be out and about in Spokane, meeting people, organizing events, facilitating partnerships, and generally getting everyone excited about children’s reading!

Originally from Florida, Tameka comes to Page Ahead from a local arts agency and has volunteered with Junior Women&rsqou;s Mission Auxiliary. Reading has played an important role in her life, going all the way back to early childhood; her favorite children’s book is Bears on Wheels by Stan and Jan Berenstain, and she fondly remembers reading N.M. Bodecker’s poem “Let’s Marry Said the Cherry” with her sisters. She hopes to pass on the gift of reading to others through her work with Page Ahead.

“Reading is a conduit for learning. Through reading, I can explore the ideas, thoughts, and stories of people across space, time, and culture,” says Tameka. She believes strongly that “literacy is a gift that prepares children to succeed in life.”

Tameka is hoping to increase public awareness and community support for children’s literacy during her tenure with Page Ahead. We are happy to have Tameka with us as we work to give kids in need the chance to read!

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In appreciation:

The following generous contributions were received between January and April 2009. An asterisk (*) indicates that all or a portion were in-kind donations.

$500 - $999
Candlewick Press
James & Marilyn Cook
Elsie and John Crossman
Brooke Doyle
Allen Eskelin
Virginia Fergueson
Karen (Bender) Haberkorn
Jeannette Jarvis
Michele Kelly
Thomas Lucas
Bob and Rachelle Mezistrano
Sean O'Neill
Random House, Inc.*
Marisa Rodriguez
Tim Story
Stephen White
Kandice Bluhm
Darby DuComb
Davidson Companies
Washington Alpha Chapter of Pi Beta Phi

$1,000 - $4,999
Mary Jo & Jim Bruckner
Meena Cheng
Susan and Mark Dibble
David Hensel
Kris Lambright & Tim Hevly
Rex Barker
Port Gamble S'Kallam Tribe
Gene and Nancy Leonardson
Office Depot Foundation
Elaine Denslow
Jack & Jill of America
Tiger Woods Foundation
Tutta Bella
Whittnee Chen
The Gottfried & Mary Fuchs Foundation
Wells Fargo
Cruise Industry Charitable Foundation

$5,000 - $9,999
D.V & Ida McEachern Charitable Trust
The Medtronic Foundation
Patty L. & Michael D. Meyers
Microsoft
Union Pacific Foundation

$10,000 and above
Janson Foundation
RGK Foundation
Wal-Mart Foundation

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Up and Coming

September 11: King County Day of Caring
Reading events

September 18: Snohomish County Day of Reading

Reading event

September 24: Dish Up Literacy!

Eat at a participating restaurant and at least 20 percent of your bill will be donated to Page Ahead. Visit DishUpLiteracy.org for a list of restaurants.

October 17: Seattle Art Museum

Sketch & Sculpt & Sentences

October 17 - November 19: Seattle Children’s Theater

“If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” & book drive

October 20 - November 22: Book-It Theatre

“Emma” and book drive

November 19:

Reading event at Daniel Elementary

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