The Spencer-Van Etten School district in New York has many students and families below the poverty level. It is a geographically isolated, rural district with almost half of the families qualifying for free and reduced lunches. Also, due to socio-economic factors, about 25% of the 4th graders scored below the 3rd grade level on Language Arts Assessment tests in the last several years. As many of these families are struggling financially just to provide basic necessities, there is not a lot left over at the end of the month for “extras.”

The main problem that I want to tackle, and the number one priority of the Van Etten Elementary School Principal to change, is illiteracy. Being able to read helps children succeed with all their other subjects, and will help them succeed as they mature. By giving kids books at a young age, along with a Key Club reading partner, they will have their own books to read, which will, hopefully, encourage them to read other books. The Reading Buddy will motivate them to read by making it more fun (the school has already implemented this, on limited scale, and it has been very motivating for the children.) Also, if they go to the library as a “field trip” and have their own library cards, it will introduce them to the library and motivate them to go to more frequently. Many children grow up here and leave and have never set foot in the local library. Kids would like to take part in library activities locally but either aren’t informed, or it is simply inaccessible to them.

We are targeting just the 2nd and 3rd graders at the Van Etten Elementary School - roughly 200 kids for the 2008-2009 school year. Backpacks, Books, and Buddies will be one of the first projects our Key Club does next fall; we will gather all of the materials and assemble them in the summer to have them ready to distribute to the kids on literacy night (an established date in the school) right after school begins. The youngsters will get to meet the Key Clubbers, who will read to them throughout the year, mainly on Tuesdays and Thursdays for an hour during school and/or an hour after schooll, depending on their schedule. (This is a new project that I am also trying to get going with our Key Club – we have read in the elementary school before, but this project would cement the relationship between the organization and the school so that it would be a banner project for us every year.)

I have spoken with the Principal of the Van Etten Elementary School about her highest priorities for her school, and I have talked with my Key Club and Faculty Advisor about the project, we have formed a steering committee, and the club is excited about it. I have written letters of request to Target and to Borders for donations, in addition to Wegmans, Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, and hope to write grants to Scholastic, Random House and Putnam in addition to TY (for beanie babies!). I have spoken about this to Kiwanians at my sponsoring club and will bring it up at several Kiwanis divisionals this fall to request their financial support.

I will also speak to the Spencer Chamber of Commerce to see if they are able to donate toward this priority.

Although giving a nylon drawstring backpack, books, a trip to the library, a library membership card, and a small stuffed animal may seem like a small gift, families in our community cannot provide these types of commodities to most of our children. Due to socio-economic factors too, many of our children are not taken to the library and do not know there are books available for them to borrow. For these young children, many in impoverished households, the backpacks will provide them with a bag that can be used for school as well as for transporting their belongings. Also, by sharing these with them, it may motivation the children to become active in the community. By giving them books for them to own, it will hopefully spark them to read more, become more interested in literacy, and do better in school, and they will be more likely to have enthusiasm and a positive outlook for their education.

Plus with the reading buddy, it may encourage them to read out loud to the buddy as well. Some already have reading buddies that they bring in, and during story time they pretend to read as the reading buddy, impersonating what they think their voice sounds like. By adding little effects to their experience they’re starting to find out that reading is fun!

The success of this project will be measured based upon how many children we are able to influence, but more importantly on how we impact each individual. As Key Clubbers, we may never know the extent of our impact or how we influence each individual that we serve, but as a group our work has and will continue to change our communities. I am hoping to provide these kids with confidence in themselves by building their reading abilities and by giving them a place and a sense of belonging in their community. There is an after school program at our elementary school and I am planning on starting a Read and Lead program there to match up Key Clubbers with the kids to read books together on a regular basis – at least twice a week.