Cabin Fever is settling in. It’s February and we all need a night out with friends.
Sure, we love our Midwestern winters, but we also recognize that shut-in feeling of not having seen many folks due to the colder temps.
It’s time to do something. Something fun.
It’s time to laugh, gather together, and support a fantastic non-profit.
It’s time for A to Z Trivia Night.
Head to the website for tickets – www.atozliteracy.org
A to Z would love to have you and your friends join us for our annual FUNdraiser on Saturday, February 21st at 7:00 pm. Trivia Night will consist of three rounds of trivia with live auctions in between. Tables seat between six and eight people, so get a group together, or feel free to come in pairs and join a friendly table of A to Z supporters.
Last year folks had a blast – the perfect way to cure your cabin fever.
Head to the website to buy your tickets and let us know who will be joining you.
Please go to http://www.atozliteracy.org to order your tickets today!
By Betty Trummel
We got word from our Lusaka Rotary Club contact, Masautso, that he was able to meet with some of the students A to Z is sponsoring and help them arrange their school fees for the new year. Being in the southern hemisphere means that a new school year begins in January or February.
As I think about the start of my school year back in August here in Illinois, I’m thinking of kids with new shoes, maybe some new clothes, school supplies, and the excitement of a well-decorated elementary classroom filled with books and bulletin boards and lots and lots of resources. That is not the reality for many children around the world.
The students we sponsor are given the gift of a year of schooling, at what we would consider a relatively small price. Leftover funds can be used for basic school supplies or school uniform. Children we sponsor show great excitement and gratitude for being given this chance to continue learning.
Jimmy, the student my husband and I chose to sponsor, is 17 years old and is entering the 10th grade. He would like to complete his secondary schooling and attend a university. He’s interested in possibly following a path to medicine in the future. He’s a quiet young man, and very serious about his schoolwork and exams.
When our A to Z Literacy Movement team worked at Shine Zambia Reading Academy last June, Jimmy and other former Shine students came by each day to meet with us. They are eager for us to keep teaching them, and they took great pride in sharing their notebooks and work with our team. I am happy that my family can assist Jimmy with school fees, basic supplies, and uniforms.
In Jimmy’s words: “I want to say thanks for everything that you have done for us/me, cause you have taught me a lot of things and I believe you are still going to teach me more. I have seen a huge thing in you guys…just to come and help us, for there are few people who do this that you are doing. I have seen a lot of passion in you and you have a caring and loving heart. What you are doing shows a lot of kindness.”
With 2015 almost here, A to Z Literacy Movement is excited to share our updated website, www.atozliteracy.org, with you. A huge thank you goes out to Stephanie Brown, one of the A to Z’s founders, for helping us to create a more friendly and informative site for folks to visit. The new site looks fantastic, and we think you will definitely enjoy clicking around to see some new pictures in the photo gallery, find ways to donate time, and read about who we help in Zambia as well as here in McHenry County.
As always, we will continue to publish the A to Z blog for you to enjoy, but look forward to sharing current events on the home page more consistently and hope supporters share the site with friends and family.
By Betty Trummel
As I took a look at my tiny class Christmas tree last week, I saw the gift of books and reading for my 30 students. Each package under the tree contained a bright, shiny, new chapter book.
I thought about so many children around the world who don’t have new books or any books at all. In many places literacy is not the reality of everyday life.
The work we do as part of A to Z Literacy Movement is on a small scale, but it is mighty. I’m thinking back to our trip to Zambia this past June, and how exciting it was to see gently used and new books in the hands of the children and teachers at the Village of Hope and at Shine Zambia Reading Academy.
We’ve given the gift of books and reading to so many, just as I have in my 36 years of teaching. How can you help give the gift of literacy this holiday season?
Dear A to Z supporters,
“It’s not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving.” Mother Theresa
Endless love endured this year for the A to Z Literacy Movement as creativity for fundraising increased. Through Trivia Night, The Arlington Heights Scholastic Book Drive, Betty Trummel’s Open House, The Lundahl/Bernotas Walkathon, The Bernotas Dodgeball Tournament, The Savers Clutter Collection, The Alwood Elementary First Grade Lemonade Stand, The Louise White Elementary School CrAtoZy Sock Day, The AmazonSmile donation, The Christmas Drive at Good Shepherd Hospital, The Central High School Interact Club Spirit Week, The Central High School National Honor’s Society donation, Grants from the Crystal Lake Dawnbreaker Rotary Club, and donations from you, we were able to gather over $22,000. This total far exceeded our expectations, which in turn, allowed us to achieve and exceed our goals.
Getting books into hands of impoverished children is our primary goal; with our funds, book drives and partnerships with other non-profit organizations we were able to send sixty six boxes of books: twelve boxes to the Zambia Rotary Club Nkwazi, twelve boxes to Accra, Ghana for an after school program, eighteen boxes of picture books and chapter books to School of Hope in Zambia, six boxes to the Jubliee Center in Zambia, and eighteen boxes of math textbooks to School of Hope in Zambia.
Our trip to Africa this year achieved our goal to professionally develop teachers. We were able to spend quality time in two schools utilizing the expertise of four teachers: Shine Academy and All Kids Can Learn International. In addition to providing professional development, we were also able to fund two teachers’ salaries and pay for approximately six months of school lunch at Shine Academy. Furthermore, we were able to award a scholarship to Jonathan for his yearly tuition and a bicycle to cut his four hour walking commute to school in half.
We have also increased our local outreach to meet the needs of those in our own community. We were able to donate one hundred string bags filled with picture books to Kiwanas; hundreds of books to the Immanual Lutheran Clinic; hundreds of books to School Distrcit 47 Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee; and hundreds of books and story time to Garden Quarter.
Because of you and your extraordinary love of giving, we were able to give to so many this year. Thank you for all you have done to help us reach our goals. Without you and your love of giving, this would never have been possible.
Warmly,
A to Z Literacy Movement
By Pat Kelly
As I listened to a student’s class presentation about Mahatma Gandhi, he quoted the significant man: “In a gentle way you can shake the world.” I wrote the quote down and instantly began to think about it’s application to A to Z Literacy Movement.
In our own little way we have shaken the world. Or at least one corner of it. A to Z receives support through a variety of resources: literature, volunteers’ time, financial and even verbal, through those who share our mission in conversations.
With last month’s celebration of Thanksgiving comes reflection on all that has occurred for A to Z Literacy this year. We’ve had numerous new fundraisers and have been fortunate to rely on our annual philanthropists as well. We have had schools who named us the beneficiary of their book fair, buying scads of books for us with their revenue generated. We have had donors find us and bring us boxes of books bound for children’s hands. In Zambia we met new friends at The School of Hope and have given them a shake, sending boxes and boxes of books in a shipping container and locating a set of requested encyclopedias.
Gandhi was a man of wise words and ways. Countless individuals will herald his methods and follow his advice. At A to Z Literacy, we use Gandhi quotations to move and shake us in our work. Comment below and share some of your favorite quotes!
By Mal Keenan
On Monday, I had the awesome opportunity to spend the day learning with Donalyn Miller at Judson University. She shared her knowledge of reading with 200 teachers and had so many great things to say.
Throughout the day, I tweeted ideas that resonated with me and wanted to share them with you:
Reading fosters empathy.
We throw out the pedagogy when we can’t get the management to work.
Set small goals and check in daily with reluctant readers.
For many kids, graphic novels, comics, and series are the gate to lifelong reading.
How can we leverage read alouds to introduce new authors to our students?
The act of reading is not final until we can pass the book on or discuss it with others.
There’s not a lot of hope in the word “weakness”, so I use the word “goal”.
A to Z Literacy Movement Blog 