Delphi Rotary Club Receives Grant Funds
Posted by Kelly Currie
The Delphi Rotary Club has been awarded a $1,500 Rotary District grant to help fund a literacy project to provide reading materials to the Camden Early Childhood Center!
The Delphi Rotary Club has been awarded a $1,500 Rotary District grant to help fund a literacy project to provide reading materials to the Camden Early Childhood Center, which serves preschool and kindergarten students in Camden, Indiana. The Delphi Rotary Club will contribute an additional $500 of club funds to complete this $2,000 project.
Many children come to CECC with an achievement gap. In fact, assessment tests indicate that in the 2009-10 school year, 46% of the kindergarteners entered CECC at a developmental age lower than their chronological age of 5-6, some as low as 21 months. The school has intervened with a Basic Kindergarten class that helps those high-risk children close the achievement gap before entering kindergarten and also works diligently with kindergarten students to make sure they are prepared for first grade. Literacy and reading skills are an essential component of these efforts. CECC has a literacy program in place, with trained literacy teachers and a literacy coach. One need that has remained unmet, however, is the need for more materials. The Delphi Rotary Club's project will provide leveled books for the children to read, "Just Right" books for them to read independently, and books that they can take home and read with parents. This $2,000 project will enable the school to purchase approximately 350 books.
Research indicates that students need to be reading on grade level by the end of their second-grade year, or they will never catch up with their peers. Poor reading ability results in a poor educational experience, with many children never reaching high school graduation. This situation affects the entire community in numerous ways, both economically and socially.
In addition to the provision of materials, Rotary Club volunteers will work with CECC Principal Carol Coon and her staff to begin a volunteer program, Rotary Reads, to help with in-class reading projects or one-on-one reading time with students.
The Delphi Rotary Club, whose motto is "Service Above Self," was founded in 1939. Its philanthropic activities have included assisting with a water project to help deliver clean water to a community in Honduras, providing thousands of dollars in scholarships to graduating Delphi Community High School seniors, sending several DCHS seniors each year to the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards retreat at Camp Tecumseh, and partnering with other civic groups to help fund various community endeavors.
Many children come to CECC with an achievement gap. In fact, assessment tests indicate that in the 2009-10 school year, 46% of the kindergarteners entered CECC at a developmental age lower than their chronological age of 5-6, some as low as 21 months. The school has intervened with a Basic Kindergarten class that helps those high-risk children close the achievement gap before entering kindergarten and also works diligently with kindergarten students to make sure they are prepared for first grade. Literacy and reading skills are an essential component of these efforts. CECC has a literacy program in place, with trained literacy teachers and a literacy coach. One need that has remained unmet, however, is the need for more materials. The Delphi Rotary Club's project will provide leveled books for the children to read, "Just Right" books for them to read independently, and books that they can take home and read with parents. This $2,000 project will enable the school to purchase approximately 350 books.
Research indicates that students need to be reading on grade level by the end of their second-grade year, or they will never catch up with their peers. Poor reading ability results in a poor educational experience, with many children never reaching high school graduation. This situation affects the entire community in numerous ways, both economically and socially.
In addition to the provision of materials, Rotary Club volunteers will work with CECC Principal Carol Coon and her staff to begin a volunteer program, Rotary Reads, to help with in-class reading projects or one-on-one reading time with students.
The Delphi Rotary Club, whose motto is "Service Above Self," was founded in 1939. Its philanthropic activities have included assisting with a water project to help deliver clean water to a community in Honduras, providing thousands of dollars in scholarships to graduating Delphi Community High School seniors, sending several DCHS seniors each year to the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards retreat at Camp Tecumseh, and partnering with other civic groups to help fund various community endeavors.