|
|
|
MICHIGAN UPDATE: How Reading Made a Difference in Saginaw
|
 Rhonda Butler was nervous and anxious before the first PRIME TIME meeting. Mind you, Rhonda is a confident, outgoing person, yet she was not so sure her buoyant personality would be enough this time. As the long-time Children and Teen's Services Coordinator for the Public Libraries of Saginaw, she implemented many reading programs directed at Saginaw youth over the years ... but this program was different. PRIME TIME®, thought Rhonda, had a real chance to impact families who really needed it.
Read this article.
Congratulations on a successful program to the entire team including Cynthia Dimitrijevic, Grants Director for MHC and PRIME TIME State Project Director; Rhonda Ferrell-Butler, Children & Teen's Service Coordinator for Public Libraries of Saginaw and PRIME TIME Program Coordinator; Tanya Grunwell, Hoyt Library Children's Librarian and PRIME TIME Storyteller, and Dr. Gewndolyn Thompson McMillon of Oakland University and PRIME TIME scholar.
This article by Scott Hirko, Public Relations Officer, Michigan Humanities Council (MHC) appeared in the Summer 2008 issue of the Michigan Humanities Council: Michigan People, Michigan Places publication. The MHC was one of five recipients of the PRIME TIME national expansion grant, made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Hoyt Public Library in Saginaw implemented the first of four statewide bi-lingual (Spanish/English) PRIME TIME programs.
For more information on Michigan PRIME TIME programming visit, click here.
|
|
PRIME TIME and LEH Announce Membership in New Orleans Collaborative
|
PRIME TIME and LEH are proud to announce membership in the Connect2Educate (C2E) Collaborative, a group of New Orleans-area organizations interested in working together to provide an awareness and networking event that will connect public schools in Orleans Parish to resources and programs benefiting schools and their students. These organizations seek to use this event to address the fragmentation in the current school governance structure and the emersion of new school leadership personnel. In addition, they seek to overcome any inefficiencies that exist connecting the supply of resources to the demand for resources in public schools. "It is inspiring and encouraging being a part of a collaborative of groups that can rally around the same mission, and commit to the work that is ahead of us in order to help schools meet their needs," said Miranda Restovic, Assistant Director of PRIME TIME for the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the LEH representative on the collaborative and co-chair of the Sponsorship Committee.
The planned event "Connect2Educate: A Community & Public School Mixer" will take place in Spring 2009, providing an opportunity for schools and resource providers to share information and make personal contacts. The goals of this one-of-a-kind event include the following: 1. Keeping schools informed of the wide array of services and resources at their disposal, 2. Helping school leaders make informed and logical decisions about programming for their students, 3. Encouraging better coordination between school needs and available services, and 4. Helping service providing organizations increase visibility and impact of services.
In addition to the LEH, the C2E Collaborative is comprised of representatives from Communities in Schools New Orleans, The Greater New Orleans Afterschool Partnership, Save Our Schools NOLA, and Start the Adventure in Reading. Additionally, representatives from more than a dozen other New Orleans area organizations have signed up to be planning committee members, thus joining the collaborative in that capacity for the 2009 event year.
For more information about the C2E Collaborative and the planned 2009 event, please contact Miranda Restovic (restovic@leh.org) or Zakenya Perry (zperry.cisno@gmail.com).
|
|
Kentucky Humanities Council Hosts Multi-Lingual PRIME TIME
|
Since 2002 The Kentucky Humanities Council (KHC) and the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives (KDLA) have partnered with the LEH to expand PRIME TIME across Kentucky. However, even after implementing 65 programs, there was still opportunity for a "first "!
The KHC agreed to fund a bilingual (Spanish/English) PRIME TIME program at a Lexington school. The initial site encountered insurmountable difficulties, but then Cassidy Elementary School Family Resource Center and the Youth Services Center at Henry Clay High School agreed to collaborate. The first hint of the impending challenges arose when the registration of participating families revealed that their audience would be a mix of Hispanic families, African refugees (speaking several different African languages including Swahili, Kirundi and French), and Iraqi refugees speaking Arabic only.
Instead of turning any of these families away, the KHC team brought on board translators for the various languages represented. "It was somewhat like Pentecost where everyone heard the program in their own language," said Kathleen Pool, KHC Associate Director. The KHC team also provided translations of the texts for the families to take home, in order to encourage the families to read together at home.
According to entry-survey results, 10 out of 14 participating families reported that they never read to their children, 2 families reported that they sometimes read together (the last time having read a book together reported as "this year" and not "this week" or "this month."), and 2 reported that they read together frequently. This incredible group effort consisted of 49 willing participants (14 families), 14 volunteers (including KHC staff, and 5 Girl Scouts), and 7 PRIME TIME team members including 3 translators, childcare provider, scholar, storyteller and Kathleen Pool .
"The night was total chaos and the families loved every minute of it," said Pool who relished the memory of the "kids faces while they were singing Abiyoyo, eating popsicles, gluing cotton balls on their sheep, waiting to see if they won the $10 Walmart gift card as the door prize, or getting their book bags for the next week."
This nontraditional PRIME TIME reinforced the importance of a team's commitment and flexibility, and illustrated the power of an intergenerational reading and discussion program. Bravo, KHC!
For more information on Kentucky PRIME TIME programming, click here.
|
|
Librarians Experience "California Dreamin'" at ALA
|
The American Library Association (ALA) held its annual conference and exhibition in Anaheim, California June 26 - July 2, 2008. A session entitled Prime Time Family Reading Time: Bilingual Programs Expand Nationally was presented on Sunday, June 29 to an enthusiastic audience of approximately 35 librarians. The panel included Thomas Phelps, Director of Public Programs, National Endowment for the Humanities; Lainie Castle, Project Director of the Public Programs Office, ALA; Anne Masters, Director of the Pioneer Public Library System, Oklahoma; and Pat Lawson-North, Executive Director of Vision Literacy, Santa Clara County Library, California. Dianne Brady, Senior Consultant for PRIME TIME introduced the panel and fielded questions, while Faye Flanagan, PRIME TIME Project Director, served as moderator. The dynamic presenters covered the history of their involvement with the PRIME TIME model and detailed the exceptional outcomes experienced by their respective institutions.
Over 22,000 participants attended this conference, which included excellent program sessions, many of which emphasized the importance of reaching Spanish-speaking audiences in all communities. PRIME TIME has implemented over 120 bilingual programs since 2004.
|
|
TIAS Update: Prime Time for PRIME TIME
|
Prime Time for PRIME TIME in New Orleans is a Teacher Institute for Advanced Study (TIAS), jointly sponsored by the University of New Orleans (UNO) and the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH). It began on July 7, with 20 New Orleans area public school teachers participating, and will continue through July 31.
Dr. Olivia M. Pass, Associate Director of PRIME TIME for the LEH, and Dr. Nancy Dixon, who teaches English at UNO and has served as a PRIME TIME scholar for several years, are co-directing this Institute, which was conceived to help New Orleans area teachers of kindergarten through eighth grades encourage their students to discuss more critically the humanities present in children's literature and to help increase their students' love of reading. "This TIAS will help with New Orleans' efforts toward rebuilding and rejuvenating its schools. I have been so impressed with the quality and enthusiasm of the teachers involved in this Institute," said Pass, who taught a teacher institute at Nicholls State University seven years ago. Read more...
|
|
PRIME TIME Training Workshop in New Orleans
|
PRIME TIME is set to host its second in-state Training Workshop this year. The workshop will be held July 26 - 27, 2008 at the Louisiana Humanities Center at Turners' Hall in New Orleans, LA inside the LEH's state-of-the-art Education Center.
The PRIME TIME staff is pleased to welcome team members from 27 sites representing 6 states (Louisiana, Georgia, Kansas, Florida, New York, and Oregon). Approximately 80 registered participants which include new program coordinators, community organizers, preschool coordinators, scholars and storytellers, will receive 2 days of intense instruction and practice in program philosophy, methodology and implementation. "This is certain to be an exciting and enlightening event," said Shantrell Adams, PRIME TIME Assistant Director.
For more information regarding the PRIME TIME Training Workshop, contact Shantrell Adams at adams@leh.org.
|
ATTENTION Louisiana PRIME TIME Sites: New Application Form!
|
In order to better prepare our applicants for the work and benefits of bringing PRIME TIME to their communities, the new application (effective Spring 2009) features the following requirement:
- PRIME TIME is a community-building program. Please demonstrate your community's willingness to support a PRIME TIME program at your library by attaching letters of support from local agencies, organizations, and businesses.
All Louisiana sites submitting an application for funding in Spring 2009 should use the new application form with the added requirement. For questions regarding the new application form, please contact Faye Flanagan, PRIME TIME Project Director at flanagan@leh.org.
Access the new application forms in WORD or PDF here.
|
|
|
|
|
