Tag Archives: crystal lake

A to Z’s AmaZing Race

Get your traveling team together and please join us for our inaugural road rally and FUNdraiser.

What to Expect:

The road rally will start at Hickory Hall where you will be given your first clue. From there, you and your team (2-8 people) will travel to a different location in Crystal Lake to receive your next clue to figure out.

The quicker you can solve clues and travel to specific locations – the better chances you will have to win prizes! There will also be a few fun activities/roadblocks for your team to complete at some stops along the way.

What You Need:

Bring your sense of humor and love of Crystal Lake to finish the race and win fun prizes!

You can purchase tickets on our website for $50 per person or score a deal with $175 for a 4-pack. We will add your name to the list of road rally racers! 

You do not want to miss A to Z’s AmaZing Race!

This year we are trying something new for our annual FUNdraiser and hope you will join us on Saturday, August 27th from 6:30-10:00 PM for A to Z’s AmaZing Race road rally. Yep, this fundraiser is going to be one to remember with lots of laughs while benefitting a great cause!

The road rally will kick off at Hickory Hall where you will be given your first clue. From there, you and your team (2-8 people) will travel to a different location in Crystal Lake to receive your next clue to figure out and then travel on to another location in the race. The quicker you can solve clues and travel to specific locations – the better chances you will have to win prizes! There will also be a few fun activities/roadblocks for your team to complete at some stops along the way. Head to our website for tickets and ask a friend (or two) to join your team. We will add your name to the list of road rally racers.

Special Thanks: A to Z Literacy Movement is funded by individual donors like you and we are grateful for your continued support as we celebrate 13 years of promoting the love of reading by getting books into the hands of children.

Save the Date for A to Z’s AmaZing Race

Get your traveling team together and join us for our inaugural road rally and fundraiser on Saturday, Aug. 27th from 6:30 – 10:00. Yes, we decided to switch things up a bit after a two-year COVID delay and create a fun race around Crystal Lake paying homage to our city and some iconic locations. 

We invite you to start your engines and embark on a road rally with clues to solve, trivia to figure out, and roadblocks to get around. The AmaZing Race will be held at Hickory Hall where racers will be given their first clue to begin their adventure. Teams can range in size from two to six people and tickets will go on sale on August 1st via our website.

As always, all money donated will directly help us to forward our mission and meet our goals to strengthen and improve the literacy lives of students locally and globally.

Another Summer School Book Fair

A to Z Literacy Movement had the privilege to host another local book fair this morning at Coventry Elementary School in Crystal Lake. Over one hundred students in grades first through fifth came to check out the selection of free books and then choose a few for their home libraries.

As we strive to meet our 2016 goals, A to Z will continue to provide books for children in McHenry County and other parts of Illinois in hopes in making a difference locally by promoting the love of reading and increasing literacy levels.

Crystal Lake Central Juniors Creating *Books in Bags*

A to Z Literacy Movement is grateful to Mrs. Welder’s English class of Crystal Lake Central juniors for once again taking on the wonderful project of *Books in Bags*. Each CLC student chooses a fiction or nonfiction picture book and practices reading and rereading the book aloud. The students then head to the school library to record their reading with Mrs. Nelson, Crystal Lake Central’s librarian.  Once the recording is complete, the students create a short comprehension check and discussion guide with questions and prompts to be answered or discussed by students in our Zambian partner schools. The *Books in Bags* are a fantastic asset to any classroom or library listening station, and we are really excited about this year’s selection of picture books. Thank you so much to the teachers and students involved in this literacy project!

Beep. Beep.

By Mal Keenan

Zambia is slowly building a small middle class. Very slowly.
And with a middle class comes more Zambian drivers.
Imagine a whole lot of 16 year old drivers on the road…that’s kind of
how it looks and feels. Some driving fast. Some driving slow.
Accidents.
Bumper to bumper.
Traffic jams.
Horns honking.
And the cars are changing, too.
Back home in Crystal Lake, my sons and I play the game “Slug Bug” when we
see a Volkswagen bug driving by, and I think I need to get that game going
here in Lusaka as there have been so many “Slug Bugs” passing by.
Slug Bug Green.
Slug Bug Blue.

No Summer Slide Here!

By Mal Keenan

photo(1)A to Z recently donated five boxes of children’s books to District 47’s Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee. The books were offered to families attending the last meeting of the school year in hopes to promote summer reading and boost at-home literacy.

photoAs a literacy coach, I am well aware of the “summer slide” that occurs when children do not read consistently throughout June, July, and August. By donating books for kids to take home, the hope is to maintain the reading skills these students have worked so hard on during the past nine months. And by getting books into their hands, we are continuing to meet our mission locally.

Dodgeball Was a Hit!

By Mal Keenan

2014-05-23 02.58.38For some, nothing says fun like diving to the floor while a bunch of foam balls are being hurled at you.It’s a sport of speed and agility. It takes a strong arm and fast legs. It’s perfect for middle school kids!

2014-05-23 03.35.38Last Friday, Belinda Strebel, a 7th grade teacher at Bernotas Middle School, coordinated the first annual Viking Dodgeball Tournament. Students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade – boys and girls alike – got their teams together – and came out for a fantastic time in the gym while supporting a worthy cause, A to Z Literacy Movement.

2014-05-23 03.12.42Because of the number of teams participating and plenty of guests coming to watch, we were able to raise enough money for another shipment of books, six boxes, to be mailed to Zambia in the coming weeks.

A to Z is so grateful to Belinda for putting this together and to the Bernotas administration for the opportunity to host this event.

Declutter: A Poem

By Pat Kelly

Spring is in the air

and along with it comes an urge

to clean up, clean out, sort and purge.

If you’re a Crystal Laker

we hope that you will save

the goods that are stockpiled when you straighten up your cave.

Clothing, kitchen items, whatever’s in the way,

hold on to them please, until the week of Earth Day.

April 20-26, drop your wares at the Savers store

Tell the man “This donation is for A to Z” before you walk out the door.

Savers will weigh our donations up, do some math

and write a check.

We all win- you, Savers and A to Z.

Thanks for making the trek.

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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Read!

By Pat Kelly

Perhaps you will be doing some cleaning of closets, the garage or (gasp!) the kid’s rooms this Spring. Are you weeding out the winter clothes you no longer want? Please consider putting a pile of donations aside for the week of Earth Day, April 20-26. Green is good- let someone else get some use out of your unwanted belongings.

A to Z Literacy is partnering with Savers, a Crystal Lake thrift store to collect used items and turn them into cash for our mission. This thrift store chain will pay us by the pound for the goods we amass. Unfortunately, we cannot take furniture, liquids or tires.

Anytime during April 20-26, bring your items to Savers, 230 W Virginia St. (Rt. 14), Crystal Lake. Please make sure to mention that the items are to be donated for the A to Z Literacy Movement fundraiser. Along with your receipt, you’ll get a coupon to use on your next shopping trip to Saver’s.

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