LIBRARIES, LITERACY, LITTLE ONES, AND KIWANIS
We celebrated National Library Week 2021 by launching two programs: “Celebrating Scribbles!” and “Escape from the Jeopardy Zone.”
“Celebrating Scribbles!” was launched April 6th as part of our ongoing Freadom®️ Families program at Family Focus – Englewood (Chicago.)
Freadom®️ Families is an educational bonding program for families with at least one child age birth to three. It is designed to interrupt the “cradle to prison pipeline“ through promoting early literacy, family bonding, love of learning, libraries, marketing, and strategic partnerships.
Subtitled Precious Little Hands Begin to Write, “Celebrating Scribbles” is a contest for parents to create a special place for baby “writers” and their families. Each family has already participated in the 2020 National Library Week “Best Home Library” contest. “Celebrating Scribbles” is a continuing enhancement of that effort.
“Escape from the Jeopardy Zone” was launched April 9th with a Zoom “Meet and Greet” for our 2021 participating parents and Logan Square(at Funston Elementary School) Boys and Girls Club Chicago staff -including Club Manager Hilda Crispin.
Officially named “John Stephan’s Escape from the Jeopardy Zone,” this program was created in 2018 with the support and inspiration of the late John Stephan. John was a longtime member and officer of the Kiwanis Club of Lakeview – Chicago, as well as the Director of the Logan Square Boys and Girls Club of Chicago. This program was designed to alert parents to the danger of possible future incarceration of third-graders scoring below proficient in national reading scores – and to help them help their children escape from this danger. This danger – and remedies against it – are addressed in the Annie E. Casey Foundation‘s study “Early Warning! Why Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters.”
Both programs are supported by the Kiwanis Club of Lakeview – Chicago and correspond to Kiwanis International’s “Young Children Priority One,” program and “Read Around the World” Initiative.
Yes, kids need libraries, and “KIDS NEED KIWANIS!“