The first teacher a child has is their parent and it’s where literacy skills begin. Take time this month (November) to encourage reading, discussing stories, and showing children that reading is fun! Even try our Family Literacy Bingo where you have to fill in all the circles.
#FamilyLiteracyMonth #LiteracyMatters #YoungReadersDay
On #InternationalLiteracyDay, we share a note about adult literacy. The difficulties an illiterate adult faces are big and can start a cycle that makes it difficult for generations to break.
When you donate books to We Are Creed, it is our mission to find new homes for them, because we want to reach children and aid them in increasing their literacy. If we can help them at a younger age, we can hope their adult life will be easier.
When we receive gently used book donations, we look for opportunities to get these in the hands of kids. Yesterday this took us to Michigan.
Miss Q will be using about 10 boxes of our gently used items to help her K-8 high poverty charter school students in Flint, Michigan. She is working to convert this van to a mobile library so students and their families can enjoy these books…and keep them!
Books at her school are often old, have ripped covers, etc. and the teachers are predominantly funding these resources so we are excited to share our good fortunes with Miss Q and her school community.
#Teachershelpingteachers#Booksforkids#educationmatters#literacymatters
Update on Barb’s Buddies:
Wisconsin: On Monday, 50 kits were delivered to Dane County Foster Care. Children in Wisconsin received their $25 gift card, a We Are Creed mug, and candy in their bag. Big thanks to Kristen for running this program!!!
Illinois: This coming Monday, 130 gift cards and notes will be delivered to Our Children’s Homestead for children throughout Northern Illinois. (For safety reasons, other trinkets or candy will not be included this year.)
Arizona: Eventually, our AZ group will help take 50 kids to the bookstore when they feel it’s safe. Since the children live in group homes and COVID rates are high, this adventure has been postponed. Luckily, several boxes of gently used books from IL made their way to Sunshine Residential Homes in February.
This means in 2020, a total of 230 children in foster care will be/have been offered the opportunity to experience a bookstore where they can choose their own books and enjoy some summer reading. For some, this starts the journey to be lifelong readers.On behalf of We Are Creed, thank you to our organizers, donors, note writers, and everyone making this possible!!
We think Barb Dabrowski is smiling down on us as we continue to be Creating Remarkable Effects Every Day.
When we expand our programs to other states, we need a volunteer to see the program from beginning to end. In South Carolina, this person is Jennifer, who is in her second year of coordinating the South Carolina Book Flood program.
When the idea for this organization came around, Jennifer was supportive and offered her assistance immediately. Last year she arranged for books to go to 2 different schools in South Carolina. When we revamped the program this year, she has been working with the SC Book Flood teachers to create and make their Wish Lists and will coordinate their delivery.
We are truly grateful to work with another teacher who is Creating Remarkable Effects Every Day.
One hundred and fifty-five years ago today, on June 19, 1865, federal orders were finally read in Galveston, Texas, which stated all enslaved people in Texas were free. This is despite the fact the war ended two months earlier (April 9, 1865) and the Emancipation Proclamation was put into effect on January 1, 1863 (two years earlier), which freed all those enslaved in Confederate states.
To help children understand the importance of this date, we are sharing a few resources today:
– Colours of Us created a children’s book list back in 2016: https://coloursofus.com/10-childrens-books-celebrating-juneteenth/
– Teaching Tolerance offers some explanation and resources to help teachers discuss with students not only the importance of this event, but how this event could/should be taught: https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/teaching-juneteenth
– Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library provides a book list for children, teens, and adults, which “celebrate the Black experience, foster understanding and empathy, and teach history and current events”: https://www.nypl.org/125/juneteenth2020?utm_campaign=NYPLSocialMedia&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social
– WeAreTeachers also created a list of 17 resources that can be used as classroom tools to honor this date: https://www.weareteachers.com/teaching-juneteenth/
Please list additional resources in the comments as we encourage sharing information.
Thank you for the book donations for GirlForward! While we are in talks to see if the April event is still on or will be postponed until the June event, we truly appreciate the book donations!
If you have time to read, we highly suggest you check out the books we’ve chosen for this program. Most are listed on this image.
More happy teachers received the books shown in the picture and another box of culturally diverse moves from the SC Book Flood!
A special note from We Are Creed’s President, Stephanie Creed:
“I will forever be indebted to the town of Pelion, South Carolina and Dr. Jowers for taking a chance and hiring a new teacher. Pelion Middle School taught me the joys of teaching, the importance of a community, and a ridiculous amount of life lessons.
Coming from the suburbs of Illinois, this rural location was nothing like my educational experiences. Even more, the poverty and hardships the students and families endured was unexpected, and I was ill-prepared for how to support them. Thanks to a workshop at a conference, a district administrator that I annoyed with my requests for a cohort, and a great professor from Center of Excellence to Prepare Teachers of Children of Poverty at Francis Marion University, I began to understand some of ‘my kids.’ The teachers and students at Pelion Middle School are the reason this organization was started — to support those Creating Remarkable Effects Every Day.
I am overjoyed that Pelion Middle School, my home away from home for many years, was a recipient of the SC Book Flood. I guarantee these books are appreciated and readers will enjoy these donations.”
Did you know Henry Winkler writes children’s books — in the Dyslexie font, which helps those with dyslexia read? There are 12 books in the series and after reading his latest, “Everybody is Somebody,” I adore him even more!
This cute book features Hank and his two best friends meeting an author as a welcoming committee when she comes to speak. The bad part? Hank’s struggles with reading means he didn’t finish the book. A very cute and humorous story that second-third graders will enjoy especially if they struggle with reading.
Today we announce our latest project!
In May, we will help the young adults at Our Children’s Homestead celebrate Foster Care Month by providing them gift cards to a bookstore!
Our Children’s Homestead is a specialized foster care agency focused on supporting children with high trauma or special needs in Naperville, IL and Rockford, IL. As a result, most of these young adults don’t have a lot of opportunities to make their own choices.
After talking with the agency, We Are Creed has offered to donate gift cards from a bookstore for all 130 youth. Gift cards will allow these children to make their own choice in what they read. Books that are of high interest to them that they were able to choose means they’re more apt to read them, which is what we all want!
Past donations will be used to support this endeavor, but we are also looking for more support from family, friends, and the community. If you are interested in helping us achieve this goal, please email info@wearecreed.org. To make a donation, please go to: https://www.wearecreed.org/donate/.
If you are interested in learning more about Our Children’s Homestead, go to: https://www.ourchildrenshomestead.org/.
As always, we greatly appreciate your generosity as We Are Creed looks to expand in creating remarkable effects every day!
