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Wednesday, June 1, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Rotary provides books for kids
By Kathryn Godsiff
Correspondent
First-graders in Sisters
Country got a jump start on
their summer reading last
Friday. The annual Books
for Kids literacy event, spon-
sored by the Rotary Club
of Sisters, took place in the
Sisters High School (SHS)
auditorium. Students from
Sisters Elementary School,
Sisters Christian Academy
and Tumalo School ended
the day taking home a hard-
bound book of their very
own, along with some other
goodies donated by the Forest
Service, Sisters Library and
the Rotary Club.
The event is all about
books, reading, and enjoying
both. Master of Ceremonies
Brad Tisdel made sure that
music and laughter were also
included. The SHS Interact
Club members added a touch
of drama by acting out a story
that included a good queen, a
bad grinch, heroic first-grad-
ers and lots of books.
This is the eighth year that
Sisters Rotarians have funded
the literacy program. The
City of Sisters also provided
a grant toward the program.
Books for Kids is mod-
eled on a program founded
18 years ago in Casper,
Wyoming. John Jorgensen,
a Casper resident and yearly
presenter at Sisters’ Books for
Kids, wanted to honor his late
wife Sue with a gift of liter-
acy to first-graders. The pro-
gram is now called Wyoming
Reads and is held each year
on a day in May decreed by
the governor of Wyoming.
The idea spread, and in
Oregon the literacy event
m o d e l e d o n Wy o m i n g
Reads takes place in Sisters,
Madras, Klamath Falls,
Springfield, Lebanon and
Ashland.
The literacy celebration
actually began in January,
when a selection of six age-
appropriate books was deliv-
ered to the first-grade teach-
ers. The books are read to the
students, who choose their
favorite. The list is passed
to the Rotary Club, which
purchased the books through
Paulina Springs Books.
On the day of the big give-
away, the students arrived
at the high school and were
greeted by Rotarians. They
filed into the auditorium,
where Tisdel was ready with
interactive songs to get things
going.
Next up was Sisters librar-
ian Paige Bently-Flannery,
photo by Mike bidasolo
Students from Sisters and Tumalo each got a book and a bright yellow T-shirt at Rotary’s Books for Kids day.
who runs the children’s pro-
grams at the library. She read
a selection of poetry and had
the students reciting, clapping
and shouting as she shared
the delight of words that
rhyme.
Tisdel then introduced
Jorgensen. He narrated the
story of the Good Queen Sue
(dramatized by the Interact
students), whose castle
was infiltrated by an illiter-
ate grinch who cast a spell
and then tried to destroy the
queen’s library. Fortunately
some first-graders caught
the grinch in the act and
used the spell’s antidote,
“Sniggledy-snead, I like to
read” to stop the dastardly
deed. The auditorium echoed
as the Sisters and Tumalo
first-graders yelled it along
with the actors. The happy
ending had the grinch read-
ing along with her new-found
first-grade friends.
If it sounds like a loud
event, it was. But that was
purposeful, to remind the
children that reading, espe-
cially at first-grade level, is
often interactive and always
fun.
Sisters library super-
visor and Rotarian, Zoe
Shumacher, summed it up:
19th Annual Outlaw Open
at Aspen Lakes
June 17, 2016 at 12:30 p.m.
Scramble Golf & Catered Barbecue
Don’t Golf? Join us for dinner/dancing starting at 6:30 p.m.
Music provided by the High Street Band!
Outlaw Booster Club 2nd Annual
Outlaw Hall of Fame
Dinner & Induction Ceremony
September 3, 2016
5:30 p.m. Social
Banquet & Ceremony 6:30 p.m. at SHS
2016 Inductees:
Bill Edwards (Sisters School District Administrator/
Teacher/Mentor)
Amy Cretsinger (SHS ’03)
Gene Harrison (SHS ’55)
Gordon Mouser (SHS ’58)
Jenny (Boswell) Melton (SHS ’06)
Mary Flande (Sisters School District Administrator/
Coach/Teacher)
1999 Football Championship Team
Green Brothers (Jonathan – SHS ’03;
Christian and David – SHS ’04)
All Proceeds Benefi t All Sisters Schools Co-Curricular Activities.
www.shshalloffame.org • 541-617-0707 • Registration and
sponsorship at www.birdeasepro.com/OBCOutlawOpenandHOE
Outlaw Booster Club is a 501(c)(3) organization.
“First grade is an important
time in the development of
reading skills. This is where
you begin to see the founda-
tion start to unfold for what
is, hopefully, a lifelong habit
and love of reading.”
The event ended as each
child received a book bag,
which were all opened at the
same time. The bags con-
tained the chosen book, com-
plete with a name plate with
each child’s name, as well
as a bright yellow T-shirt, a
toy from the Forest Service,
coloring books and cray-
ons, and stickers from the
library.