Since the founding of Reach Out and Read (ROR) Wisconsin, the
Wisconsin Medical Society (WMS) has graciously donated hundreds of new books and
has provided funding to ROR Wisconsin to make our work possible. WMS is a
policy leader and professional development resource for physicians across the
state. They are a unified voice for physicians and their mission is to improve
the health of people in Wisconsin. Through their grants and book drives to ROR
Wisconsin, WMS is advancing its mission by helping to improve the lives of
children and families across the state.
With grant funds provided by WMS, ROR clinics have been able
to purchase 17,800 new books. These books are given to grateful children across
the state during their well-child exams. ROR providers use these books in their
exam rooms as tools to measure developmental milestones. This makes the visits
more efficient and fun. At the end of the visit, each child 6 months – 5 years
leaves the clinic with a new book in hand. Families are encouraged to read
every day and enjoy these books over and over again.
Additionally, for the past two years, WMS staff has hosted a book drive to purchase and collect new books that are given to ROR Wisconsin. Since 2017, 275 books have been donated. Most of these books are purchased by WMS staff at Books4School, a local Madison retailer with books for children of all ages. Books4School is open to the public and has books for as low as $1.00!
With the support from WMS, our work is able to continue. We are able to train more providers, launch more programs, assist in maintaining high-quality programs and provide books for children across the state. We are grateful for WMS’s mission and the generosity they’ve shown ROR Wisconsin!
ROR Wisconsin Project Manager Karin Mahony with WMS staff picking up the books donated by WMS.
On behalf of the Reach Out and Read Wisconsin team, I am sending thoughts to everyone in the state dealing with the aftermath of the unprecedented storms in August and September.
We have been thinking of you and your communities throughout the last month as we heard of torrential rains, floods, road washouts, mudslides, evacuations, sheer winds and tornadoes in multiple areas of the state. We know that several of our participating clinics were flooded, along with their entire towns. Superficial cleanup has been astounding, but real recovery will take time.
Perhaps, now, you have a few extra moments to let us know your situation and needs:
Were your clinics damaged?
Did you lose book inventory?
Do you have many families who lost homes, including all the books in their homes?
Will your usual book funding sources be diverted to emergency relief efforts?
How are the children in your community faring?
We know of at least one school system that delayed the start of school – acknowledging that the children were too traumatized by loss of homes and sense of normalcy to focus on academics.
Please remind your families that books not only build better brains, they build better bonds. Sharing stories, even without a book in hand, develops and reinforces strong, comforting, nurturing parent-child relationships. These relationships act as protective shields for children living through natural disaster. Reach Out and Read Wisconsin functions on an extremely tight budget. However, what we lack in a financial cushion, we make up for in the strength of our collaborative network, interest in sharing your stories and unstoppable, creative, problem-solving energies. Please tell us of your needs and/or send pictures if possible. We may be able to offer some assistance. Here’s wishing for a month of clearer skies. Karin Mahony and the Reach Out and Read Wisconsin team
Come learn about how early literacy builds a baby’s brain infrastructure, as well as economic implications for the well-being of our families, communities, and state.
On Sunday, Oct. 14, Reach Out and Read Wisconsin (ROR) advisory council members are hosting a friendraising and fundraising event. We want to increase awareness about how crucial early language exposure is to a child’s development and the link between high-quality, early intervention and future community economic health.
Join us and bring a friend or neighbor.
Dipesh Navsaria, MPH, MSLIS, MD founding ROR medical director and Dennis Winters, MS, chief economist for the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development will give a short presentation and a Q&A session.
The event space is generously being donated by Mary Morgan at 702 Writer Incubator.
Can’t make it to the event but want to learn more about our work and impact? Please contact Alex Rogers. To donate to ROR Wisconsin, please click here.
With more than 210 Reach Out and Read (ROR) programs statewide our three staff, plus our medical director, stay busy. Whether we are visiting clinics, fundraising, giving presentations or assisting in building community partnerships, we are committed to promoting early literacy throughout Wisconsin.
ROR Wisconsin is a state affiliate of the national ROR organization. Since 2010, our office has helped launch more than 155 programs. We help clinics start their program, provide ongoing support (fundraising and technical assistance), quality assurance and books. However, working with clinics is just one piece of what we do.
Karin Mahony, MEd, MSW, Project Manager
Karin Mahony, our project manager, oversees all aspects of our work and is our resident fundraiser. Working with staff in our foundation office, she applies for grants, meets with potential and current funders, searches for new funding opportunities and provides book support to clinics in Wisconsin. If you have ever been to one of our annual meetings and had the chance to attend her fundraising breakout session, you will quickly learn why she has been so successful over the last seven years. Karin knows it is more than raising money, it is about building relationships with donors and organizations. She tells the story of ROR Wisconsin in a compelling and motivating way. “When I first started at ROR Wisconsin I had enough funds for my salary and some for clinics, everything else I had to fundraise for.” Our ability to grow our team while also becoming the seventh largest affiliate in the country, is proof of her success.
Karin reading for her monthly book club
Dipesh Navsaria, MPH, MSLIS, MD, Medical Director
Dipesh Navsaria is many things; a pediatrician, occasional children’s librarian, associate professor of pediatrics at UW Health’s School of Medicine and Public Health, child health advocate and founding medical director of ROR Wisconsin. Regardless of all these roles, on a weekly basis Dr. Navsaria travels around the state and country giving presentations about the importance of reading for brain development. He is a tireless advocate and promoter of our work and one of the reasons we believe our number of participating clinics has risen so quickly. He engages, motivates and educates people about how setting aside time each day to read aloud will have a positive, lasting impact. For these presentations, he directs all honorariums to ROR Wisconsin, which provides us with unrestricted funds we can use for program supplies and special projects.
Dipesh Navsaria, MPH, MSLIS, MD speaking at a Wisconsin Medical Society event
Amber Bloom, MSW, CAPSW, Project Coordinator
Amber Bloom, joined our team in January 2017. Amber works in the Children’s Health Alliance of Wisconsin Milwaukee office and assists clinics in the eastern part of the state. She conducts site visits, helps clinics wanting to develop new programs and manages our quality assurance efforts. She analyzes and prepares data from the parent literacy orientation survey to share with participating clinics. The purpose of this survey is to show any change in parents’ literacy behaviors after their clinic starts a ROR program. This data is then shared with clinics at site visits to show their impact within the community.
Amber’s background is in child welfare and she says, “I really appreciate the aspect of prevention that ROR provides. It offers families the opportunity to thrive through creating a nurturing environment at home, building parent skills and getting children ready for success in school. I’m glad to have a part in making those things happen.
Project Coordinator Amber Bloom MSW, CAPSW
Alex Rogers, Project Coordinator
Alex Rogers, joined the ROR team in January 2016 and works with clinics in the central part of the state, assisting with the application process and providing ongoing support. She also manages our marketing and communications, particularly with the launch and operation of this blog. She oversees our social media posts, annual program update and email campaigns. Each fall, she plans and organizes the annual meeting as an opportunity for ROR clinics and early literacy advocates to come together for education and networking. Alex enjoys working for ROR Wisconsin because it combines her love of reading and desire to help improve everyday life for children and families.
Project Coordinator Alex Rogers “reading” when she was young and more recently with her favorite children’s book, Corduroy
ROR Wisconsin is the early literacy initiative of Children’s Health Alliance of Wisconsin, which is affiliated with Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. Being part of this larger organization not only provides us with infrastructure funding, but support in communications, graphic design, website, data analysis and strategic planning. All this allows our staff to devote the majority of our time to the programmatic needs of our clinics.
On Feb. 1, 2018 Reach Out and Read (ROR) Wisconsin hosted an event in Madison, Wisconsin to highlight the ongoing support of Bob’s Discount Furniture to Reach Out and Read. During the event Cathy Poulin, Bob’s Discount Furniture public relations and outreach director, dressed up as Cat in the Hat. She read aloud from the book Oh, the Things You Can Do That Are Good For You by Tish Rabe to a group of preschoolers from the Waisman Center’s Early Childhood Program.
Bob’s Discount Furniture public relations and outreach director, Cathy Poulin reads aloud to a group of preschoolers at the Waisman Early Childhood Program
Prior to the classroom reading, Ms. Poulin presented a $25,000 donation to ROR National Center, in Boston. ROR Wisconsin’s medical director and National Center board of director’s member, Dipesh Navsaria, MPH, MSLIS, MD accepted the check on behalf of ROR National Center.
Reach Out and Read Wisconsin medical director and National Center board of directors member Dipesh Navsaria, MPH, MSLIS, MD accepts Bob’s Discount Furniture’s donation on behalf of ROR National Center
Bob’s Discount Furniture also donated 100 copies of Tish Rabe’s book, 100 fleece blankets and boxes of Cat in Hat-style hats to the American Family Children’s Hospital. In addition, Bob’s Discount Furniture donated $1,200 in gift cards to ROR Wisconsin clinics to be used to assist clinics in developing literacy-rich waiting rooms.
Thank you
Thank you Bob’s Discount Furniture for the generous donations to ROR National Center, American Family Children’s Hospital and ROR Wisconsin. We hope the Cat in the Hat comes back to visit Madison again!
At the end of each year, I think, “Wow, what a busy year.” This, our seventh year, has been no exception.
This year, we have been busy with:
Welcoming, and training Amber Bloom, MSW, who works directly with clinics on the eastern side of the state
Visiting 100 clinics throughout the state
Launching this blog, Books Build Better Brains
Keeping track of our medical director, Dipesh Navsaria, MPH, MSLIS, MD, who gave more than 40 presentations this year, in Wisconsin and 11 other states
Organizing and leading our annual meeting, now with 100 attendees, one third of which are medical providers
Organizing three legislator/state leader visits to ROR clinics
Beginning the collection of our post-intervention parent literacy orientation surveys
Assisting 30 clinics in launching ROR programs
Submitting 10 grants/requests for funding (six were funded)
Attending and presenting at the ROR National Center Leadership Meeting
Providing more than 24,000 books in support to 61 clinics
Offering strategic planning consultation to two other state affiliates
Serving on ROR National Center’s book and network advisory committees
ROR National Center staff who cultivate national partners to further the work of early literacy promotion, provide training, resources and support to affiliate staff
Our funders, early literacy champions and individual donors who share our passion for children and literacy and without whose support none of the above would have been possible
2017 is coming to an end and with that we want to take some time to reflect on the great accomplishments of the past year. Accomplishments which include hiring our third staff member, Amber Bloom, MSW, CAPSW, to provide assistance to clinics in the eastern part of the state. For our outstanding contributions to children in Wisconsin, we were awarded a Friends of Education award by State Superintendent Tony Evers. Additionally, we are the seventh largest Reach Out and Read affiliate in the country with more than 210 programs. Our other metrics keep growing as well:
We are serving 8,000 more kids than last year
30 new clinics started a ROR program in 2017
1,500 medical providers participate
More than 150,000 books distributed this year alone
Serving 1 in 5 children younger than age 6 in the state
Our growth and expansion continues but we cannot do it without your support. ROR is not just valuable to the kids who receive a new book; it supports parents as their child’s first teacher and helps medical providers do their job more effectively.
Hear why founding ROR Wisconsin medical director, Dipesh Navsaria, MPH, MSLIS, MD thinks you should support our state office:
As an affiliate, we are doing well but your support can help us reach even more Wisconsin children in 2018.
I really don’t know what possessed me to become an Appleton police officer after graduating from UW-Madison with a degree in sociology. Little did I know when I retrieved the police officer job posting from the garbage can and applied for the position, my life would forever change. Thus began my 11 year odyssey in law enforcement. My first seven years were spent as a patrol officer. I then decided to specialize in juvenile law and sensitive crimes. The last three years of my career were spent in a local Division 1 high school where even a seasoned officer got an eye-full of serious teen problems. There were the regular thefts, fights and car accidents in the school parking lot; but, who would have guessed the amount of truancy, illegal drugs, teen pregnancy, suicide attempts and more that I frequently encountered.
The power of reading first-hand
Me reading to my boys, Nicholas and Steven
By the time I had one little boy and another on the way, I made the decision to leave law enforcement to stay home with my boys. My boys are in college now and I miss having their fat cheeks to kiss.
My favorite thing to do with my boys was to read to them. We all loved it. I would bring armfuls of picture books home from the library. One of my boys would sit for long periods of time focused on our books. The other was busy with toys as he listened, but he did listen. After everything I had seen as a police officer, I knew my boys were lucky. Some of you might be thinking, “Well, that’s what mom’s do. What’s the big deal?”
Nicholas, reading to his younger brother, Steven
To be perfectly honest, I thought I was just doing what comes naturally. I was wrong. Adults don’t just naturally “know” their relationships with their children, and shared activities like talking, singing, reading, writing (scribbling qualifies) and playing are so critical to everything in life that comes after. Parents learn how to do this, by observation and learning at some point in their own life. But not all parents have had this behavior modeled for them. It would be great if every child in the world grew up in this type of environment. It would be ideal if parents themselves had these secure, healthy experiences during childhood so they were confident in their abilities to read aloud and felt empowered as their child’s first teacher.
When I look back, everything in my life led me to become a children’s librarian. Many people chuckle, scratch their head and ask, “Why would you do that?” or “That’s kind of a radical career change, isn’t it?” I smile and occasionally tell people that it makes perfect sense to me. I am now in the business of crime prevention. I became a librarian for many reasons, but that is one of the outcomes of my work now.
I have always loved young people and wanted to make a difference in their lives. I want to help them stay on the path to happy, healthy and productive lives. Of course, the factors that lead people down different life paths are varied and complicated. I was never under the illusion that I would save the world after I earned my master’s degree in Library and Information Science, but I hope I can contribute and make a difference.
The evidence is clear. Reading to children helps them develop print awareness, vocabulary and letter identification as well as letter sound recognitions. It also helps children learn to tell stories from beginning to end. These skills are all necessary before reading can begin. Unfortunately, the achievement gap starts early. Love of reading must be learned at an early age and failure to instill a love of reading can impair long-term interest in learning. Over half of all parents don’t read to their children every night. The percentage gets higher for families living in poverty.
Reading difficulty contributes to school failure, truancy, school dropout, juvenile delinquency, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy. Here are some staggering figures:
Seventy percent of all incarcerated adults cannot read at a 4th grade level
Eighty-five percent of children in the juvenile court system are functioning at a low literacy level
The cost of incarceration in the United States is estimated to be between 80 billion and one trillion dollars each year
However, every $1.00 we invest in quality early childhood programs, society gets back $4 – $9. Even if you look at the situation from a purely economic standpoint, investment in quality early learning programs makes sense. Through programs like Reach Out and Read (ROR) we can provide children in our communities with an evidence-based and scalable program that helps start children off on the right track in life.
The wonderful thing about ROR is that it reaches so many families with small children. Who do you think is best equipped to influence parents’ child rearing practices….a librarian, a teacher or a physician? I think we all know the answer to that. When doctors talk, we listen. Here in the Fox Cities, the United Way, public libraries and area health systems are all pulling together to expand ROR throughout the region. Our goal is to have all potential well-child visit sites in the Fox Cities implementing ROR by the end of 2018. It’s spreading fast. I think we’ll reach our goal.
Please give all children a fair chance in life and support quality early childhood education programs like Reach Out and Read.
