June 2005 STAIR NEWSLETTER

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Thanks for giving the gift of reading. WINTER 2009 Start The Adventure In Reading Toimprove thereading skillsand self-esteem oflower elementary school students Mission Statement S ERVING C HILDRENSINCE 1985 STAIR Promotes Family Reading Events with Schools and Community Partners Aspart of its continuing effort to involve families,STAIR is working with the schools and several local com- munity partners to provide mean- ingful and entertaining literacy activities for STAIR children and their families. Family Reading Events at Schools: STAIR is working with a number of its participating elemen- taryschools to help them plan and implement Family LiteracyNights during the 2008-09 school year.

Events include: cBreakfast and Books dat DibertElementary School, cPolar Express Night dat Esperanza Charter School, cHoliday Read-in dat A.C. Alexander School, Night of Family Learning at Dryades YMCA, Family Literacy Night at Nelson UNO Charter School (with the N.O. Hornets Bookmobile!) and Reading Night at Harahan Elementary School.

STAIR expects to participate in additional school literacy events during the remainder of the school year. STAIR also has received a grant from the Prime Time Family Reading Time program sponsored by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities,Target Corporation and the New Orleans Kids Partnership. For six Tuesday nights (Jan.27- March 10),STAIR is ... more. less.

coordinating the Prime Time program of reading,dis- cussion,and storytelling forchil- dren and family members from Dibert Elementary School and other schools served bySTAIR in the New Orleans community.A discus- sion leader and storyteller conduct weekly book discussions and story- telling programs for children ages 6 to 10 and their parents.Pre-reading activities arealso provided for younger siblings.The event also includes a healthydinner and free books for families to takehome. In each 90-minute session,asto- ryteller demonstrates effective read- ing-aloud techniques,and a univer- sity professor then leads discussions about the texts.These discussions arecentered on humanities themes,such as fairness,greed and dreams.The featured books include award-winning children 9s books andincorporate culturally diverse titles.They span fairy tales and folk tales from around the world,stories about problems most individuals encounter,and tales from history. Each session also includes a five- minute clibrary commercial, dallow- ing librarians to introduce families to library resources,such as other books,homework aids,ESL and GED materials for parents,books on par- enting and healthcare,and local and international newspapers and magazines. Musical LiteracyPrograms: Research has shown that children exposed to music learnmoreat Lumar LeBlanc, leader of the Soul Rebels Brass Band, entertained the children and families at the STAIR site at Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church, pre- senting a program called cBrass Bands, Books and all that Jazz at STAIR! d Sponsored by the New Orleans Musicians Clinic, the Soul Rebels will visit 13 STAIR sites during the 2008-09 school year. Mark Your Calendar: National Volunteer Week is April 19-25 STAIR Volunteer Party at Garden District Book Shop, Sunday,April 5,3-5 PM continued on page 2 BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Bridget Carter Vice President: Alison Decker Scott Secretary: Frieda McGregor Assistant Secretary: Mary Lee Carver Treasurer: Tina Brockmann MEMBERS: Lee R. Adler Paul E. Atkinson Donald Beery Corinne Quayle Berger Cheryllyn M. Branche Lucas Diaz Louis Y. Fishman Sandra Hartman, Ph.D. Jim Howell Dipo Mosadomi William Prieur Jade Brown Russell Lauren Schug Sidney Eshleman Thornton Jill C. Waid Brandy Whisnant Jonathan C. Williams ADVISORY COUNCIL William F. Banta William R. Bell Ruth Bilbe Diana Boylston-Clark Burt Carnahan Kelsey B. Favrot Caroline Frederic John V. Garoutte, M.D. Ashley L. Geary Dianne L. Hunt Eartha Lee Johnson, Ph. D. Christine Jordan Junius Kaufman Suzanne N. Mague Ernest B. Norman III Pam O. Rundle Carolyn Sanders-O 9Hare Richard Seba, Ph.D. Ada Simmons Penny Sproles Sydney Touchstone Eileen T. Williams R. Bruce Worley STAFF Executive Director, Sara Woodard Development Director, Anne Elizabeth Fuselier Volunteer Director, Elizabeth Artigues Program/Materials Director, Janette W. Coco Curriculum Specialist, Penny Sproles Administrative Assistant, Debbie Casey LA Delta Service Corpsmember, Erica Mason The newsletter is published by Start The Adventure In Reading Design and Layout: Paula Coughlin/Typosition Morethan 350 community volun- teers are tutoring nearly 250 children from 31 public schools at these 26 STAIR sites throughout the New Orleans area: Orleans Parish: Algiers United Methodist Church,Ben Franklin ElementarySchool,Berean Presbyterian Church,Capdau UNO Charter School,Carrollton Church of Christ,Community Church Unitarian Universalist,Dillard University,Dryades YMCA,Fischer ElementarySchool, Holy Angels Congregational Center, Lafayette Academy,Nelson UNO Charter School,Open World Family Services,Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church,St.Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church (2 sites),Tulane University-Reily Center (2 sites), Woodland Presbyterian Church; Jefferson Parish: John Calvin Presbyterian Church,Faith Cumberland Presbyterian Church, William HartElementarySchool, Jefferson Presbyterian Church,Airline ParkElementary School,St.Paul 9s United MethodistChurch,and Plaquemines Parish: Belle Chasse United MethodistChurch. Volunteer Tutors and STAIR Students Work Together STAIR Site Director Michelle Burl and her STAIR student enjoy a reading lesson at the STAIR site at William Hart Elementary School in Gretna. Fun with Reading to Rover at the STAIR site at Community Church Unitarian Universalist. I school.So STAIR children,family members and tutors are getting cjazzed up dand turned on to both reading and New Orleans music during these hour-long sessions fea- turing two members of the Soul Rebels Brass Band. This program, funded by the New Orleans Musicians Clinic,will be featured at 13STAIR sites this year.So far the Soul Rebels have appeared at these sites: St.Charles Ave.Pres. Church,Dryades YMCA,Berean Presbyterian Church,Community Church Unitarian Universalist, Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church and Tulane University with more dates to be set for 2009. Reading to Rover: This pro- gram,where STAIR children (accompanied by family members and tutors) read to trained dogs and their handlers,is sponsored by the New Orleans Visiting Pet Program.So far Reading to Rover has visited the STAIR Saturday morn- ing sites at Community Church Unitarian Universalist and Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church with more visits scheduled for the STAIR sites at Berean Presbyterian Church and Open World Family Services in March. STAIR PROMOTES FAMILY EVENTS continued from page 1 Currently STAIR has nearly 350 vol- unteers tutoring at our various sites in the area.Of the total number,48 tutors or 14% are men.This percent- age is up slightly since Katrina.As a point of comparison,in 2004-05 the percentage of male tutors was 11%. This past fall we trained 124 new volunteers.There is a slight increase is the number of Jefferson Parish resi- dents who trained this year.The low number of Jefferson tutors in our sur- vey of 2004-05 was one of the areas of concern.At that time the percent- age of newtutors from Jefferson Parish was 26%.Of the 124 new tutorstrained in the fall of 908,37,or almost 30%,were from Jefferson Parish. STAIR tutorsrepresent the diversity of our city and have many talents. One new tutor recently returned from teaching at the Norwegian International School in Nigeria.We have a licensed brick mason who besides being an excellent STAIR tutor has developed a program to teach high school students about the basics of masonry.One of the mem- bers of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (French horn) is a STAIR tutor.If you read the regular column about cheese in St.Charles Avenue Magazine, you are reading the work of a STAIR tutor.You might also take Yoga lessons from a STAIR tutor who owns her own studio. There is a professor at Southeastern Louisiana University and Spanish pro- fessors from Tulane who tutor for STAIR. AUNO political science professor who has been fre quently quoted in the newspaper during the last election cycle is a STAIR tutor.We also have jewelry designers,retired doctors and dentists,a bartender,a book- store owner,and a sports anchor from WDSU-TV. The Peja Stojakovic Children 9s Foundation recently donated new books to the STAIR program and to First Book-New Orleans for distribution to children and families in the area. Shown here with Peja is STAIR Executive Director Sara Woodard who also serves on the First Book-New Orleans Advisory Board. STAIR Tutors Offer a Variety of Backgrounds and Talents The LA Department of Education reports that student enrollment data shows public school enrollment in New Orleans for 2008-09 is up 12 per- cent over last year.That is 55 percent of the city 9s pre-Katrina student enroll- ment data counted in October,2004. The report says that most of the increase came from charter school enrollment which grew 14 percent. Schools operated by the Recovery School District increased their enroll- ment by 10 percent with Orleans Parish School Board-operated schools growing 7 percent. Of the total enrollment,57 per- cent of the children attend charter schools,35 percent attend RSD-oper- ated schools and 8 percent attend OPSB-operated schools.Demo- graphics are 90.3 percent African American,5.2 percent White,2.2 per- cent Hispanic and 2.1 percent Asian. Approximately 83 percent of the chil- dren qualify for the Free and Reduced Lunch program. New Orleans Public School Enrollment For 2008-09 Increases 12 Percent Representatives from The Mazda Foundation, which has supported STAIR for the past several years, paid a visit to the STAIR program in the fall. Shown here with Executive Director Sara Woodard are Tamara Mlynarczyk and Barbara Nocera. cI loved getting to know the students and came to love Mondays and Wednesdays. My student is bright,confident, friendly and so smart. I feel lucky that I got to know him this semester. d STAIR Tutor,Tulane University site I I Non-Profit Org. U.S.Postage PAID New Orleans,LA Permit No.2640 1545 State Street New Orleans, LA 70118 phone: (504) 899-0820 fax: (504) 895-2668 website: www.stairnola.org e-mail: stair@scapc.org THANK YOU FOR GIVING THE GIFT OF READING! WINTER 2009 START THE ADVENTURE IN READING YES, I would like to be a Friend of STAIR! $1,000STAIR Major Supporter $750to Sponsor-A-Student for a year $500to Sponsor a Family Reading Workshop $250 to Help provide Bus Transportation $150 to Recruit and Train a Tutor $100to Provide Literacy Bags for one tutoring site $50for curriculum materials for 10 students $Any size gift is greatly appreciated. Name: ____________________________________________ Address: ___________________________________________ City/State/Zip: ______________________________________ __________________________________________________ Phone: _____________________________________________ Email: ______________________________________________ K Please charge $ __________________ to my credit card. K VISA K MasterCard Exp. Date: ____________ Card No.: ___________________________________________ Name as on card: _____________________________________ Signature: ___________________________________________ K My company will match gift (match form enclosed). K I am interested in volunteering. Contact me. STAIR,1545 STATE STREET,NEW ORLEANS,LOUISIANA 70118 Please make checks payable to Start The Adventure In Reading (STAIR) to be a Friend of STAIR. Just complete this form and mail it to the STAIR office, or visit our website at www.stairnola.org to make your gift online. It 9s just that easy! Your con- tribution to STAIR will give a child the gift of reading. As a Friend of STAIR you will be listed in our annual report and on our website. Please consider a gift today! YOU 9RE INVITED&

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