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[VIRGINIA] Samples of America Reads Challenge Federal Work-Study Programs and National Service Initiatives
JOHNSON STATE COLLEGE
President Robert Hahn
America Reads Contact: Penny Paradee Howrigan, Director of Financial Aid
RR #2 Box 75
Johnson, VT 05656-9464
E-mail: Howrigap@badger.jsc.vsc.edu
Telephone: (802) 635-1380 Fax: (802) 635-1248
Number of FWS students: 18
Currently, Johnson State College has a total of 29 students and staff participating in America Reads. Eighteen of those are working under the Federal Work-Study Program. We have seven sites also participating. There are six elementary schools and one library, all in Lamoille County. The Reading Partners meet with their buddies in the school during regular school hours. The exception to this is the three students we have who are creating an after school program at Cambridge Elementary and the after school program at Morristown Centennial Library.
The training program which was held on Saturday, September 27th was the largest, so far, in the state. We had over 40 trainees attend from all over the state including all of the Vermont State Colleges. For a small state school it was a bit overwhelming, but everyone left with a sense of unity. Even the trainers came away with a feeling that we all were participating in a great program.
UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT
President Judith Ramaley
America Reads Contact: Courtney Lamontagne
Center for Career Development L/L E
Burlington, VT
Email: lwalthou@zoo.uvm.edu
Internet Address: www.uvm.edu/%7evtreads/avistaemployment.html
Telephone: (802) 656-3450 Fax: (802) 656-0126
Number of FWS Students: Number of Districts: 7
The College of Education and Social Services and the Center for Career Development have worked cooperatively to implement the America Reads Program in our community. UVM students can choose from three different America Reads job descriptions: (1) Literacy Tutors take a 1-credit UVM course and work in local elementary schools or a non-profit organization to help children experiencing challenges in learning to read and write; (2) Literacy Buddies serve as role models to provide enrichment and motivation for young children in school and non-school settings; (3) Literacy Support students work with young children in the waiting rooms of local health care centers by reading to them, engaging children in conversations about books, and sharing information about literacy development with parents.
VERMONT STATE COLLEGE
America Reads Contact: Karrin Wilks
P.O. Box 359
Waterbury, Vermont
E-mail: wilksk@quark.vsc.edu
Internet Address: www.vsc.edu
Telephone: (802) 241-2520 Fax: (802) 241-3369
The Vermont State Colleges, a statewide system of five public colleges, have teamed up with the Vermont Department of Education and a number of other state literacy organizations to meet the America Reads challenge. Together the steering committee has recruited hundreds of college students and volunteers from the community since the program began in the fall of 1997. The colleges work with the literacy organizations to plan the effort, and together they recruit and train the reading partners who will work with Vermont children.
This semester, close to 125 students and other volunteers are working with young children up to the third grade. The reading partners work in local libraries, daycare centers, after-school programs, doctors' offices, and other settings. Faculty and staff from the Vermont State Colleges are coordinating the America Reads activities with statewide literacy groups. Funding is provided from a state grant through the Vermont Department of Education. The steering Committee for Vermont's America Reads program is currently developing methods to evaluate the activities for their effectiveness. When the program kicked off in fall 1997, the Vermont State Colleges actively promoted the effort with local media and received coverage through the state's largest newspaper and television station. The colleges are working to promote ongoing stories about tutors who have been placed in interesting settings.
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