The Shepherdstown Rotary Club has awarded “Rotary Reads” grants totaling $1,135 to three Shepherdstown institutions to promote reading.
The first grant, for $350, went to the Shepherdstown Day Care Center. It will cover the cost of providing each of the center’s children with a copy of a Dr. Seuss book read during the center’s Read Across America event for this year, which was held on March 1.
The second grant, also for $350, was to the Shepherdstown Public Library. It will be used create a new section in the children’s library dedicated to phonics, sight words, and other resources for beginning readers.
The Shepherdstown Elementary School received two grants: one for $100 to pay the cost of bus transportation for a second-grade field trip to the town library and another for $335 to buy multi-sensory materials for small group instruction.
The grants were presented at the Club’s regular Tuesday breakfast meeting at the Bavarian Inn on April 1. The accompanying photo shows, from left to right: Rotary Club President Cara Keys; Rotary Club Vocational Service Committee member Lesley Lopez; Shepherdstown Elementary School second grade teacher Gindy Goff; Shepherdstown Library Director Christy Hagerty; Children’s Library Assistant Jessie East Ward; Day Care Center Director Melissa Holman; and Day Care Center Assistant Director Michelle Robertson.
The Shepherdstown Rotary Club’s Rotary Reads grant program is one of several Club activities aimed at enhancing literacy among local children. It consists of cash grants, awarded annually, to worthy institutions for projects or programs that promote reading. Enhancing literacy has been a major priority of Rotarians since their organization’s founding in 1905.
