The Rotary Rewards Readers program has been in place for over 20 years and historically runs throughout the school year at Hyannis West Elementary School(HWES). Rotarians and volunteers fuel three elements of the program.
The first element is the Quarterly Book Distribution and Classroom Reading of the book(s) to students. For three of the four quarters, every student at HWES selects a book to take home using funds provided by the Rotary Club (approximately $2,500 per year). On the day of the Book Distribution, Rotarians and volunteers are sent into each classroom to read books to the students during a 20 to 30-minute session. The students, teachers, and volunteers eagerly anticipate these book distribution days.
The second element is the Monthly Reading Class assistance in the classrooms. Volunteers are recruited to interface with the students during their reading class for teachers seeking in-classroom assistance. The classroom assistance may involve helping with reading exercises, reading with students, or playing reading-related games in small groups.
The third element during the fourth quarter is the End-of-Year Reading Celebration: At the end of each year, in HWES coordination, the school administration, and teachers, a celebration of reading accomplishments is held. The reading celebration has included Literacy Links, where a construction paper chain is created, with each link representing a book read by the student, teacher, or parent (reading to the child). The Literacy Links are displayed around the school as a visual representation of reading! Other activities at this end-of-school-year celebration include gifting books on specialized topics (e.g., Sea Turtles) to teachers for inclusion in classroom reading exercises and providing reading mats for students to use while reading outdoors.
