The second of two BookPALS Family Reading workshops was held October 27, 2005 at Orca Elementary School. 50 families were invited to attend and bring their children. About 200 people participated.
Overall, the grant project was a major success,133 families and 200 children were served.
It enabled BookPALS to bring parents together with their children, to spend some personal, fun time learning ways to make reading fun and enjoyable. Over and over we heard that this should be offered in every school at least once a year.
BookPALS recruited 47 volunteers for the project and recieved media coverage in a full page article in the Seattle PI. Parents received free books and learned new strategies for making reading aloud more engaging and how to foster positive relationships with their child. Children participated in activities such as Bookmaking with volunteers from the University of Washington PIPE program, storytelling with BookPALS, and clown/juggling room where kids got awesome animal balloons and tricks of the juggling trade. The $5000 grant was made possible through the Starbucks Foundation.
Here are parent comments about the October Workshop:
99 percent of evaluations stated that parents thought the workshops offered were informative and they would be able to use what they learned. Here are some direct quotes:
�I had a great night, and I�m looking forward to reading with my son even more.�
�I will better be able to encourage my son�s reading by knowing what phase he is in. This was a fun evening!�
�Thanks for organizing this event. It�s a great way for kids to appreciate reading in a different way.�
� It made me feel my child is normal.�
Click on this link for a full article that appeared in the Seattle PI.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/226371_ecenter31.html
http://www.bookpals.net/content/article.php?story=20050701152832661