Alisal Union Assistant Superintendent, Jeanne Herrick, Receives Children's Literacy Leader Award

Monterey, CA, November 27, 2014 (Newswire.com) - The Read to Me Project will be honoring Jeanne Herrick, Assistant Superintendent of Alisal Union School District, for her early literacy leadership and support for programs designed to increase the number of children who begin kindergarten prepared to succeed. The award will be presented on Thursday, December 4, 2014 at the Hampton Inn & Suites Salinas as part of the Read to Me Project’s "Share the Magic Between the Pages" 2014 Holiday Giving Campaign.

"The Read to Me Project is very proud to present Assistant Superintendent Herrick with the First Annual Children’s Literacy Leadership Award for her commitment to promoting early literacy experiences for infants, toddlers and preschoolers who live in the Alisal community,” said Barbara Greenway, Founder of the Read to Me Project. “Jeanne clearly understands the educational importance of family members reading to children daily to prepare them for kindergarten and school success.”

Contact: Wendy Brickman Brickman Marketing 395 Del Monte Center #250 Monterey, CA 93940 831-633-4444 http://www.readtomeproject.org

Wendy Brickman, PR

The Read to Me Project’s “Share the Magic Between the Pages” 2014 Holiday Giving Campaign Kick Off event will take place on Thursday, December 4, 2014 from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. at the new Hampton Inn and Suites, 523 Work Street in Salinas. The Children’s Literacy Leader Award will be presented at 5:30 p.m. Through its Holiday Giving Campaign, the Read to Me Project is inviting everyone in the community, including local companies, parents and teachers, to donate and support this cost-effective, high-impact program. The event and holiday campaign is sponsored by Hampton Inn and Suites, KSMS TV Univision 67, KSES Jose 107.1 FM and KLOK La Tricolor 99.5 FM and KDJT UniMas 33.

To RSVP or for more information, call (831) 275-1300 or email 

barbara@readtomeproject.org.

Contact Information: Barbara Greenway, Executive Director, barbara@readtomeproject.org

Marcy Rustad, Director of Development, marcy@readtomeproject.org

About Jeanne Herrick:
Jeanne Herrick has more than 40 years of experience in public education working for the San Jose Unified School District and Alisal Union School District. She is a leader in K-12 district reform and has championed the “Reading First” effort through grant development and implementation. Ms. Herrick is recognized as a statewide expert in the areas of English Language Learner academic language and literacy development. In the Alisal Union School District (AUSD), Ms. Herrick shaped the initial K-3 reading program that supports stronger reading achievement in the early grades. She has received state level recognition for her work. Ms. Herrick has been instrumental in the expansion of the Read to Me Project in Alisal, supporting its growth from 23 to 52 classrooms with 730 AUSD students reading to 850 young siblings.

About the new Hampton Inn & Suites Salinas:
The new 105-room Hampton Inn & Suites Salinas opened in early 2014 at the corner of Work and John Streets, right off of Highway 101.  The Hampton Inn offers hot breakfasts every morning, complementary Wi-Fi, an indoor pool, hot tub, and fitness center as well as HD Direct TV channels and other amenities. It is located just 15 miles from Monterey and close to all Salinas attractions including golf, wine tasting and local events including the California International Air Show, Monterey Sports Car Festival, and the Steinbeck Festival.

About The Read to Me Project:
The Read to Me Project is an early literacy program that helps prepare young children to enter kindergarten with the knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension skills that will help them succeed in school and become literate and successful adults. The Project provides structure and opportunity for infants, toddlers and preschoolers to be regularly read to at home by their elementary-aged brothers and sisters. The Read to Me Project is currently reaching 82 classrooms in East Salinas, Gonzales, Greenfield, Carmel Valley and Big Sur with more than 1000 students reading to 1350 young siblings.

The Read to Me Project is easy and inexpensive to implement, immediate, direct, and powerful; reaching large numbers of young children where they learn best, at home. Families become engaged in providing their young children with the foundation for learning and life-long literacy. The Read to Me Project fosters loving and positive relationships among family members and nourishes lifelong bonds between siblings. It is an organic, simple and preventative approach as opposed to in-school remediation programs that are costly, require children to fail first, and are often provided too late.

How the Read to Me Project works:
The Project is implemented in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classrooms in primarily low-literacy school districts. Students are taught about early brain development, the importance of reading to young children and “The 9 Best Ways to Read to Young Children.” 

Participating classrooms are provided with age appropriate books carefully chosen for content, developmental level and ease of reading by students with limited reading skills. Each week students check out a book which they read to their infant, toddler or preschool age brothers and sisters as part of their nightly homework. 

Project coordinators work closely with teachers and students throughout the year, providing on-going coaching, training, support and motivation. Students are recognized for their commitment and participation with an end of the year award and bag of books so they can continue to read to their siblings during the summer. 

The Read to Me Project has been carefully developed and designed to provide continuous sibling to sibling engagement.  Young siblings may be read to over a span of up to three years as participating student readers’ move through grades 4, 5, and 6. This continuity provides young children with extended exposure to early literature and increases the likelihood of successful outcomes.  The student readers gain confidence in their own reading skills, become young mentors and model good family literacy practices. Family bonds are strengthened and schools and communities are positively affected.

The Read to Me Project is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization (Federal Tax ID # 47-1224251). For more information or to make a tax deductible donation visit the Read to Me Project website at www.readtomeproject.org