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Event Date: October 17, 2007
Participating Organization/School: LaBelle Aire Elementary
Guests: 32 Children
The 2007 EWI - Baton Rouge Chapter Reading Rally was held on October 17, 2007 at  La Belle Aire Elementary. 32 second graders participated in the Rally this year. The theme was Take an Adventure with Books. Mrs. Pabby Arnold from East Baton Rouge Parish Library’s Children Department read books and shared stories with the children. EWI Representative and volunteers worked with the children to help them created their own story book with illustrations.
A 5th grade student designed the t-shirt that was given to each participant. Participants were also given a book making kit, and a copy of “Horrible Harry Goes to the Moon. Blank books were donated by Digital Press & Graphics, Colors and Markers were donated by Mary Lynn Jones of Donnie Jarreau Construction and Tessa Burgess of Posh Kids.
Several of the children shared their stories with the group. A great time was had by all who participated in this event. The children’s stories were amazing.
Event Date: October 25, 2007
Participating Organization/School: Stratford Richardson YMCA
Guests: Mr. Greg Romeo (Corporate Comedian)
 The EWI Charlotte Chapter Annual Reading Rally was held at the new Stratford Richardson Y After School Program located at 1946 West Boulevard, Charlotte, North Carolina on Thursday afternoon, October 25. There were approximately 32 children in attendance. Mr. Greg Romeo, Corporate Comedian, presented a fun filled afternoon of Dr. Seuss stories assisted by Michelle Hodgekins, daughter of Sara Evans.
The afternoon began with a pizza party. Each child received a Reading Rally t-shirt to wear at the party. Story time followed after the part. Mr. Romeo read the Dr. Seuss collection stores of "And to Think I saw it on Mulberry Street" and "the Lorax." Michelle presented the children a short biography of Dr. Seuss and read "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." To the delight of the children, they were able to create their own story. They chose their story to be about a bird. Mr. Romeo ended story time by presenting a poem to the children.
A heartfelt thank you to the EWI Charlotte Chapter representatives who attend the Reading Rally and gave a helping hand to ensure success:
Lou Ann Anderson - Presbyterian HealthCare/Novant Health
Terri Carbon - Simmonini Builders
Sara Evans - Piedmont Natural Gas
Holly Fanella - TIAA-CREF
Barbara Horack - Chalotte Pipe & Foundry Company
Pamela Poe - American Cancer Society
Nancy Price - Ciskens Mitchener & Associates
Lisa VanRossum - Corder Philips
Linda Woodall - WB Moore Company of Charlotte, Inc.
At the conclusion of the Reading Rally, each child received a bag to take home filled with donated items from our EWI Charlotte Chapter firms. The donated books for the children were included in these bags. A speak thank you to these firms and the items they donated.
American Cancer Society - Mini Play Dough Containers
Carolina Panthers - Book Marks, Stickers and Pencils
Charlotte Bobcats (potential member) - Book marks and Bobcats Gym Floor Game
Charlotte Pipe & Foundry Company - Recycled Books for After School Program
Coca-Cola Bottling Company - Bags
Corder Philips - Book Marks, stickers, and Inspirational Cards
Dickens Mitchener & Associates - Post-It Note Pads and Key Chains
Helms Mulliss & Wicker - Rulers
Lance, Inc. - Snacks
Piedmont Natural Gas - Books and PNG Activity Books
Presbyterian HealthCare/NMovant Health - Book Marks (designed by Lou Ann) and Pencils
TIAA-CREF - Books
Simonini Builders - Craft Visors
UNC-C - Lanyards and Pencils
We would like to extend a very special thank you for the member firms who donated to the Pizza Party:
Occasions Catering - Cookies and Lemonade
WB Moore & Company - Pizza, Hawaiian Punch, and Paper Products
Each and every one of us attending the Reading Rally left the Stratford Richardson Y on this beautiful, rainy Thursday afternoon feeling very fulfilled and thankful. We knew we had given back to our community by reaching out to these precious children at the Y.
The EWI Corporate Reading Rally Committee made a “Special Delivery” to some very deserving 2nd Graders from Houston, Texas – Literacy. EWI’s literacy initiative took the form of a luncheon where a “whale of a time” was had by all!
The Corporate Reading Rally Committee brought the Reading Rally to the Leadership Conference & Annual Meeting (LCAM)! Ms. Alisa Gans’ 2nd grade class from MacGregor Elementary School in Houston, Texas, joined Academy of Leadership attendees in an exciting Reading Rally event held at the Academy of Leadership Luncheon.
MacGregor Elementary School is a magnet school for science and math and teaches children about specific career fields. Children in kindergarten through 5th grade study a strong academic program during the regular school day and a focused enrichment program after hours. EWI member firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in Houston partners with these children by working with the Junior Achievement Programs.
On Thursday, September 27, Ms. Gans’ class excitedly jumped off the bus at the Hilton-Americas Hotel in downtown Houston with over 400 Academy of Leadership attendees assembled in a banquet hall, anxiously awaiting their special guests. Attendees were seated at brightly-decorated tables with centerpieces of beautiful overflowing boxes containing books and school supplies to give their young guests. Attendees gave a standing ovation as the 2nd graders marched single file into the room to the tune of Disney’s “Under the Sea.” Images of sea life flashed on two large screens in the front of the room as the excited children were lead to their seats by a host of mascots from EWI and local businesses.
Following lunch, Reading Rally Chair Renea Callery, EWI of Detroit-Windsor, called on her Chapter President Kay Douglas, to honor the 2nd graders with a reading of Abigale the Happy Whale. The 2nd graders sat at Ms. Douglas’ feet on stage and listened attentively to the story being read. Smiles and earnest looks could be seen on their faces. Attendees followed along as the pages of the book flashed onto one screen and a live camera showing the children on stage flashed onto a second screen.
Reading Rally T-shirts, Abigale the Happy Whale books, backpacks with the Reading Rally logo and stuffed with school supplies, all the books and school supplies found in the centerpieces on each table, and 367 books for their school library were given to the children and their school.
MacGregor principal, Dr. Patricia Allen, was presented a check for $4,500 to support MacGregor Elementary School’s literacy needs. The event concluded with the children parading once again through the Academy of Leadership attendees – with smiles on their faces – this time leaving the luncheon with many gifts that will increase their enthusiasm for reading. Everyone at the luncheon truly had a “whale of a time”!
Thank you to all our sponsors and our 2007 Reading Rally Committee who made this event a reality. A special thanks goes to MacGregor Elementary School for attending our Reading Rally - the true stars of this event!
Event Date: Friday October 26, 2007
Participating Organization/School: Sam Houston Elementary School
Guests: Sam Houston Elementary Teachers and representatives of the Dallas Chapter of EWI
The B/C/DP Committee of the Dallas Chapter of EWI put together an extremely successful Reading Rally in 2007. Committee members chose Sam Houston Elementary as our project school. They asked each teacher and staff member to complete a “wish list” of items they needed or wished to have in their classrooms. Items on the lists ranged from anti-bacterial lotion to full curriculum sets.
The B/C/DP committee then compiled all of the lists and distributed them to the chapter. Donations were received from member firms as well as from individual representatives. The Dallas Chapter of EWI was extremely proud that they were able to provide every teacher and staff member with almost every item they had requested. Items included: full curriculum sets, art supplies, Spanish/English dictionaries, library videos, special learning software, math and science games, Texas Weekly subscriptions, Field Day Ribbons, and paper supplies. We were even able to provide furniture items including stools, chairs, and a couch for the library.
On Friday October 26, the Dallas Chapter of EWI held a luncheon for the teachers to present them with the requested items with lunch provided by Energy Future Holdings Corp (formerly TXU Corp.). The Dallas Chapter of EWI was able to provide a huge truck load and three car loads of donations. The teachers thought it was “like Christmas," and were overwhelmed by the items we brought and the luncheon.
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Event Date: Monday, October 29, 2007 from 5 to 7 p.m.
Participating Organization/School: James Whitcomb Riley, IPS School #43
Guests: 28 children from preschool through 6th grade and their younger siblings, their parents, 17 teachers, the principal, vice principal, social director, 20 EWI volunteers and Jungle John of Silly Safari = over 300 people (not counting the animals)!
Prior to the event, we collected 1,374 books which were donated by First Book, Half Price Books, the USO, Chick-Fil-A and members. Gift certificates and cash donations were received from members, Wal-Mart and Target and one Target location donated 58 backpacks. Chick-Fil-A donated a tray of brownies and another location gave us a discount on chicken nugget dinners and chips. We purchased from our budget 200 school shirts, juice boxes, water, additional backpacks, and school supplies. All backpacks and tote bags were filled with tablets, scissors, glue stick, pencils, crayons, pens, erasers, rulers, bookmarks and 3-4 BOOKS!.
At the event, guests arrived at 5 p.m. and were seated in the school gym bleachers while eating the Chick-Fil-A dinners. After introductions from the school principal, vice principal and social director, Joan Routh, Civic Development Chairman, thanked the audience and introduced the program for the evening. First up was member Lynn Ryan, who read the book “Abigale the Happy Whale” to the children while another member walked among the children to show them the pictures. Next, Joan Routh gave a visual presentation on “How to Write a Book” using the children to help demonstrate how to write a story. Each child volunteering received an EWI Reading Rally T-shirt. The final event was the introduction of Jungle John of Silly Safari who gave an interactive and highly entertaining and educational presentation on animals. He brought with him his dog “Bear”, a chicken, tortoise, rabbit, toad, tarantula and a snake, all to the squeals, giggles and laughter of the children.
Event Date: October 5, 2007
Participating Organization/School: I.S. Sanders YMCA Jackson, Mississippi
Guests: Lianne Takemori, Author & Curator of Education & Studio Programs for MS Museum of Art, Robin Dietrick, Curator of Exhibitions for MS Museum of Art and Ivy Alley, Curator of Education, Docents & Volunteers for MS Museum of Art
 Author, Lianne Takemorie presented the picture storybook “The Four Dog Blues Band” to the after school care children at the YMCA. The children received an autographed copy of the book and gift bags filled will prizes compliments of the EWI Jackson Chapter. It was a delightful event and the children were very appreciative. The author did an excellent job engaging the children and encouraging them on the importance of reading. Several representatives from the EWI Jackson Chapter attended the event.
Event Date: October 11, 2007
Participating Organization/School: Salvation Army Children’s Center
Guests:Nancy Stegeman, Downtown Public Library
We met and ate dinner with the children. We had the opportunity to listen to Nancy Stegeman tell stories. After the storytelling, we gave each child a 2007 Reading Rally t-shirt and 2 books.
Members of EWI of Kansas city donated 60 books for the Salvation Army Children’s Center.
Event Date: October 27, 2007
Participating Organization/School: Weekend Academy
 The Knoxville chapter participated with the Weekend Academy for the third year. The Weekend Academy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and motivating inner-city children (grades 3-5) to reach their full potential to become future leaders. The Reading Rally event was a great success and a lot of fun. Volunteers spent the morning of October 27 with the Weekend Academy students and participated in a tour and activities at the East Tennessee Historical Center in downtown Knoxville. This was a lot of fun. We participated with the children as "History Detectives". The children learned techniques to use in conducting their own family history research through activities to create biographical sketches of Tennesseans Sam Houston, Alvin York, and David Crockett. We also went on a walking tour of the downtown Knoxville area learning about Tennessee’s first Governor, John Sevier. We even visited the First Presbyterian Church cemetery and learned of many famous people buried there and some fascinating history on tomb stone symbols and their meanings. It was very interesting and the children really enjoyed the day. Our chapter presented the students with great Reading Rally t-shirts and a wonderful book called "Climbing Your Family Tree" to complement the day's activities. The book will serve as a great genealogy tool for the children.
Event Date: N/A
Participating Organization/School: Sojourner Project and St. Anne’s Place
The Minneapolis Chapter donated $250.00 per organization to Sojourner Project which is a battered family shelter and St. Anne’s Place which provides women and children shelter. The funds are earmarked for books for children to take with then when they leave.
Event Date: October 11, 2007
Participating Organization/School: Hattie Cotton Elementary School, Pre-K Program
Special thanks to:
Apex & Robert E. Lee Moving & Storage
for sponsoring T-shirts – Janet Jones
Ingram Book Group
for sponsoring a book for each child – Teri Hills
Purity Dairies
for sponsoring refreshments – Sue Lamberth
And to each of the volunteers who were able to participate in this event!
Event Date: October 26, 2007
Participating Organization/School: Green Pastures Elementary School, Spencer, OK
Guests: Atty Gen. Drew Edmondson; Mr. Chris Reen (member firm OPUBCO), & Mr. Mike James (member firm Enterprise Rent-A-Car)
 Representatives, along with our guest readers, spent the day at Green Pastures Elementary School in Spencer, Oklahoma (an Oklahoma City public school) reading books to the students and incorporating games, parades, and other activities centered around the 2007 Corporate Reading Rally theme. A local pizza establishment donated pizzas to serve to the students and staff for lunch; the Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library donated paperback books for us to give to each student to take home; and with assistance from the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation, we purchased hardcover books for the children to take home in addition to the donated paperbacks. We purchased Reading Rally t-shirts for each student and the entire school staff, and those shirts were worn during the Reading Rally activities. We made bookmarks incorporating the Corporate Reading Rally logo and gave one to each student. In addition, each student received a gift sack full of school supplies, snacks, drinks, and other items donated by our member firms. Additional hardcover books were purchased and presented as a permanent addition to the Green Pastures library. The older students were challenged to complete the book “Isabel of the Whales” which was started by the guest reader in their group, and once all of the students have finished the book and turned in a short paper depicting their favorite part of the book, our Chapter will follow up with these students with a reward for meeting the challenge. Our Philanthropy Committee has decided to adopt Green Pastures for the 2007/2008 school term and will plan monthly projects to further benefit the school.
 Event Date: October 25, 2007
Participating Organization/School: Girls, Inc.
Girls attending left with two words that no one can take away from them – integrity and education.
Event Date: Saturday, October 20, 2007
Participating Organization/School: Greater Philadelphia Cares /Duckery School Children-Treehouse Bookstore
Guests: 9 EWI of Philadelphia members and 2 guests
Greater Philadelphia Cares organized the event where 1000’s of people come together for one day a year to give back to the community by volunteering to work in the school’s of Philadelphia. Our Philadelphia chapter arranged to do the Reading Rally with the children from Duckrey School. We met the children at the Tree House Book store next to the school. This is a non-profit that offer’s a safe haven for children in the community to learn creative writing, improve there reading skill’s, and just learn to enjoy reading. They served breakfast and we read with the children and then gave them each a book and a treat to take home.
Event Date: October 25, 2007
Participating Organization/School: Community Transitional School
Guests: 13 Chapter Members
Our chapter had a very successful and fun Reading Really today at the Community Transitional School! The kids were great and the authors couldn’t have been better. They both really enjoyed the kids and the different programs they each did were absolutely perfect for the age groups they worked with. Each of them have offered to participate again next year. Tons of great items were delivered that were donated by our member firms and individual representatives.
Walidah Imarisha worked with the K-5 group (the kids wanted her autograph!):
Walidah focused on a fairytale about what it is like to be a black princess. She read a great story that she had written and really engaged the kids throughout. Afterwards the kids (in groups of 6) along with two adults wrote their own fairytale and illustrated it. Then each group presented theirs to the rest. Afterwards, Walidah sent the following:
Kristen, I am still so excited from the workshop today, I had to write and say thank you again for the opportunity! it was such a wonderful experience. The kids were so energetic and enthusiastic, really imaginative and worked so well together. They all seemed to be engaged in the process, which was exciting to see, and they all came out with such great stories and drawings. It was an honor to get to meet all of them and all of you. The volunteers were wonderful and so helpful. This is a great project and I was really happy I got a chance to be a part of it!
Take care
Walidah
Brian Christopher worked with the 6-8 group
Brian’s program focused on a play on magnetic poetry. He first read a variety of poetry and then gave each child words to write their own poem. They were given authority to “break the rules” when it comes to writing. They loved it. His activity poetry was so much fun and the kids 100% got into it.
Event Date: May 4, 2007
Participating Organization/School: Hurt Park Elementary
Guests: EWI Participants, Q-Bear, Jim Schaal Catering and Reading Rally committee members.
We run our Reading Rally program from Jan – May of each  year. We request EWI volunteers to read on Fridays for 30 mins to 2 – third grade classes. We read books that the teachers pick out and have the students fill out reading logs that list the books they’ve read both in class and out of class. Then we give out trophies to the student from each class that has read the most books. This year we also gave a trophy to the third grade student that wrote the best book report on a book they had read; this was in an effort to reinforce the literacy program required for each elementary school by the state. We give out reading certificates to all the children. Then to culminate our program we have an ice cream party to give out our awards and teacher’s bags. We ask all our EWI companies to supply gifts and prizes for each of the third grade teachers. It’s a grand celebration with Jim Schaal Catering taking care of the ice cream, a local radio station provides their mascot (Q-Bear) and we hand out the awards. It’s a wonderful celebration and we hope the pupils learn that reading can really be a fun part of learning.
Event Date: October 05, 2007
Participating Organization/School: Boys and Girls Club of San Antonio
 The EWI San Antonio Chapter Philanthropy Committee would like to thank you everyone for their generous donations to our annual reading rally event. We feel that The Executive Women International® (San Antonio Chapter) 2007 Reading Rally was a big success and the children had an exceptional time. We were able this year, for the first time, to have a professional story teller, the wonderful Len Cabral. His stories and his presentation as a professional story teller kept the boys and girls hypnotized for the entire event. Our committee was amazed at the participation and the attention that was given to Len Cabral. Each story had action and each story had a lesson.
The boys and girls marveled over all of the books and gifts we gave them. They were all so appreciative and everyone said thank you. They couldn’t believe so much was being given to them, and we were humbled by their excitement, awe and joy. The Boys & Girls Club of San Antonio is very well run by a wonderful staff and we should all be grateful that we have participated in these children's lives.
We were given many compliments from the staff of Boys and Girls Club. We were also told that it was such a joy to be treated to a special day in October, but the treat was really ours.
Event Date: November 17, 2006
Participating Organization/School: The San Diego County Probation Department, Girls Rehabilitation Facility
Guests: Attorney Regina V. Evans Deputy Cabinet Secretary of the Governor’s Office
San Diego Chapter renovated and refurbished the “Day Room” and “B Annex” room at the Girls Rehabilitation Facility in Kearny Mesa. The GRF Facility, adjacent to Juvenile Hall, is a 60-bed correctional treatment institution for girls ordered into local custody by the Juvenile court. The girls (ages 13-17) attend school on-site and participate in a monthly Book Cub sponsored by the Juvenile Court. The GRF receives no significant funding or sponsorship for the many needs of the girls-in-residence. Both the “Day Room” and “B Annex” were badly in need of painting, new furniture and fixtures, donated books and new bookshelves. EWI San Diego was thrilled to be assisting a program that has helped countless girls reshape their lives. Painting of both rooms, repairs to book shelves and installation of 6 new book units with over 500 books was done prior to our ribbon cutting event. The morning of the event, 3 new couches, area rugs, 5 desks and chairs, pillows, window panels and accessories were delivered. The program began with introductions, our guest speaker delivered a powerful message relating to her upbringing and impressed the importance of reading to take you places you never imagined and as a vehicle out of their ways of live to a better future. The girls were then taken through their newly renovated rooms with a ribbon cutting ceremony and presented with 70 copies of the Book of the Month “A Piece of Cake” by Cupcake Brown. The program included girls reading letters they had written to EWI in appreciation for our work, inspiring them to read but most important for letting them know that they are cared about outside their walls. The program was concluded with the presentation of a Karaoke system and lunch.
St. Louis
Event Date: October 13, 2007
Participating Organization/School: The Spark’s
Our Reading Rally was held on Saturday, October 13th at The Spark’s office on Manchester Avenue.We started at 9:00 am once fueled with coffee, juice and the wonderful donuts provided by Carole Bartnett.
There were ten hardworking individuals who produced 23 books for the children of Catch a Falling Star. The Director, Carla came by to make a book. She shared stories of the children and talked about her organization. With the stories and the pictures provided by the staff, it was easy to create personalized books for each child. I have to say that there were some pretty creative and crafty people in the group. The last of us left around 4:00 pm once the final book was bound and everything was cleaned up.
I presented the books to the children at Catch A Falling Star on Monday, October 15th. The children were ecstatic and eagerly searched through each page of the book reading all the special things about themselves. I think I can speak for the group when I say that though this was hard work, it was such a rewarding experience creating books for these very special children.
On another note, I received a call from Vianney High School who collected children’s books for us to distribute. There is a needy school in a south Missouri school district through our connection of a former EWI member, Sara Adams, who will be the recipients of these gently used books.
Thanks to all who helped with the success of our Rally!
Date: October 24, 2007
Participating Organization/School: Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson, Frank & Edith Morton Clubhouse
Guests: Renda Cosper, Charlotte Brown Velazquez, Michelle Matthews, Joanne Tarantola, Nancy Schlegal, Roni Bartz, Michelle Lamb, Monica Kim, Sandy Stough, Debbie Tarantola, Vicki Holmes, Jeannie Nguyen, Judy Parker, Dana Lowe, Anna DiMeglio, Toni Jacobsen, Nancy Stephan, and Philomena Tarantola.
 On Wednesday October 24th, the event started with 150 kids at the Boys & Girls Club. With 125 actually participating in writing stories about either Red Ribbon week, their favorite vacation taken, or what they would like to be when they grow up. After writing their books and illustrating several of the kids volunteered to read their stories. The Tucson Fire Department arrived and gave a speech on safety, and staying in school. The children then proceeded outside in groups to view and climb into the Fire Truck. The evening finished with an awards presentation and a donation from EWI of 120 books for the Boys & Girls Club library. Saturday October 27th the second half of the event took place with a speaker from the Tucson Library explaining all the services the library offers to students.
Date: October 23, 2007
Participating Organization/School: San Miguel School
The 2007 Reading Rally at San Miguel School was a huge success! We were fortunate to have 23 ladies volunteer! Having this many volunteers allowed us to read with small groups of the 70 students in two shifts, morning and afternoon. There were approximately 3-4 students with each volunteer. The teachers as well as Principal Paul Haney were thrilled to have us there and were amazing to work with.
EWI donated 56 books, and included in that number were 4 "class sets" so the children would all be able to have their own copy of whatever book was being studied at the time. Member firms donated items for goodie bags for the students which included the t-shirt, composition books, pencils, pens, cups, a coupon for a free meal at Q'doba restaurants, and candy.
Date: November 3, 2007
Participating Organization/School: Reach Out and Read Program at Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children
The 2007 Reading Rally at San Miguel School was a huge success! We were fortunate to have 23 ladies volunteer! Having this many volunteers allowed us to read with small groups of the 70 students in two shifts, morning and afternoon. There were approximately 3-4 students with each volunteer. The teachers as well as Principal Paul Haney were thrilled to have us there and were amazing to work with.
EWI donated 56 books, and included in that number were 4 "class sets" so the children would all be able to have their own copy of whatever book was being studied at the time. Member firms donated items for goodie bags for the students which included the t-shirt, composition books, pencils, pens, cups, a coupon for a free meal at Q'doba restaurants, and candy.
Date: October 22, 2007
Participating Organization/School: Colvin Elementary School
Guests: Eight firefighters from Wichita Fire Departments No. 2 and 19
 The 2007 Reading Rally was held on Monday, October 22, 2007 at Colvin Elementary School. Eight Wichita Firefighters were on hand to read "Isabel of the Whales" to five classes of 3rd Graders. Students were then given time to write their own stories and draw and color pictures in their own book. Polaroid pictures were taken of each student with a Firefighter standing next to the fire truck. The day concluded with pizza, cookies, and orange pop for everyone. Each child went home with a t-shirt, their own story book, Polaroid picture, and a giveaway bag of supplies.
Wichita TV station KAKE (Channel 10) was on hand during the Reading Rally and taped the event. The segment was televised during the 6:00 pm news cast.
2006 Reading Rally
2005 Reading Rally
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