The Shepherdstown Rotary Club has awarded three “Rotary Reads” grants, totaling $1,002, to three Shepherdstown institutions to promote reading.
The first grant went to the Shepherdstown Day Care Center. It will cover the cost of providing each of the center’s children with a copy of the Dr. Seuss book read during the center’s Read Across America event for this year, which was held on March 1.
The second grant was to the Shepherdstown Public Library. It will allow the purchase of five sets of ten books that will be used to start a new teen book club at the library.
The third grant was to the Shepherdstown Elementary School. It will be used to buy six sets of phonics reading books for grades K through 4.
The grants were presented at the Club’s regular Tuesday breakfast meeting at the Bavarian Inn on April 2. The accompanying photo shows, from left to right: Rotary Club President Jim King; Day Care Assistant Director Michelle Robertson; Day Care Center Director Melissa Holman; Elementary School Reading and Math Interventionist Tanalee Southern; Library Youth Services Director Rachel Heller; and Library Board Chair Terry Kramer.
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.
