AmeriCorps READS Initiative's blog

Many of our schools participate in programs that allow them to turn in box tops, labels or milk caps and receive money or school supplies. We don't suggest you buy these products just to help a school. However, if you're using the products, perhaps you'll consider sending your box tops, labels, milk caps to your local school.

Kemp's Give 'em Five: Collect the specially marked caps or proof-of-purchase symbols from Kemps products, bring them to school, and earn money for the things your school needs. Each stickered milk cap or proof-of-purchase symbol is worth 5¢, which schools can turn into computers, books, art supplies, etc. http://www.kemps.com/

Want an amazing cross-cultural adventure?

Adam Abdulle Academy is a charter school in SW Rochester. We have a great need for volunteers. Want to help? We have listed our specific volunteer needs on the Olmsted County United Way Volunteer Opportunity web site

Here's some information about us:

Mission: As a K-6 Somali charter school, the mission of the Adam Abdulle Academy is to maximize opportunities for children through educational innovation that will ensure their full development as healthy and positive contributors to the greater community.

My name is Monica Maaldonado and I am an AmeriCorps member with the READS (Reading Early Achieves Developmental Success) Initiative through the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation. AmeriCorps is a domestic Peace Corps program, which provides leadership development through national service. This program focused on early literacy training, parent literacy education, service project development and capacity building of early childhood coalitions. I am doing my service at Hawthorne Education Center in Rochester, MN.

I am coordinating a service project, which is going to give literacy bags to kids and their families. Reading materials in the literacy bags will encourage literacy activities in the home, as well as at school. To assist parents in the best use of the books, literacy kits will be designed for each book. The kits will include accompanying activities that relate to the books. They will offer parents advice and tips on how to read to their children. These kits will be made available to parents and children who attend Hawthorne Educational Center, in Rochester, who are part of the Hand-in-Hand program or adults/ parent who participate in the newly established reading program. It is my hope that through this concerted effort both parents and children and families will be encouraged to know and to realize the importance of reading and literacy as it relates to the learning of another language and pursuing further educational endeavors. It will also give parents whose reading/ literacy skills are not of appropriate level the chance to improve upon their literacy skills while allowing them the opportunity to bond with their children. Most importantly, it will make families realize that reading and literacy are both fundamental and fun.

I am an AmeriCorps member with READS (Reading Early Achieves Developmental Success) Initiative. I am doing my service at Hawthorne Education Center in Rochester, MN.

For my service, I am coordinating a service project, which is going to give literacy bags to kids and their families. Reading materials in the literacy bags will encourage literacy activities in the home, as well as at school. To assist parents in the best use of the books, literacy kits will be designed for each book. The kits will include accompanying activities that relate to the books. They will offer parents advice and tips on how to read to their children. These kits will be made available to parents and children who attend Hawthorne Educational Center, in Rochester, who are part of the Hand – in - Hand program or adults/ parent who participate in the newly established reading program. It is my hope that through this concerted effort both parents and children and families will be encouraged to know and to realize the importance of reading and literacy as it relates to the learning of another language and pursuing further educational endeavors. It will also give parents whose reading/ literacy skills are not of appropriate level the chance to improve upon their literacy skills while allowing them the opportunity to bond with their children. Most importantly, it will make families realize that reading and literacy are both fundamental and fun.

The library at Hawthorne Educational Center is trying to consolidate books so we can make more space on the bookshelves. With that being said, the library is giving away encyclopedias and self-help books. The students at Hawthorne hardly ever use these reference books. If anyone is interested please contact Kari Podenski or Katie Maguire at Hawthorne Educational Center.

The Reading Program at Hawthorne Education Center is seeking book donations for its library, especially teenage romance books (namely the Sweet Valley High series). To make a donation, stop in at Hawthorne Education Center at 700 Fourth Avenue SE and ask for Siri Stenberg.
Also, the Hawthorne library is seeking dictionaries to be donated for use by the students.

Hawthorne Education Center is having a Family Fun Night on Friday, April 20 from 5 pm to 9 pm. This event is sure to be fun for the entire family, as it will include food, games, and movies.

5:00 pm – 6:00pm Potluck
(Please bring a dish to share)
6:00 pm – 7:00pm Games
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Movie

Tickets are $1 per person and $2 per family. They can be purchased in advance at Hawthorne Education Center, located at 700 Fourth Avenue SE.

Families packed the gym to hear an author read a Somali folktale at Adam Abdulle Academy on Wednesday, March 21. Said Salah Ahmed read The Lion's Share in Somali and English to an audience of about 110 people of all ages.

Said Salah Ahmed is an established poet and writer who lives in Minneapolis with his family. He is also a lifelong educator and several people present knew him as a former teacher or someone who taught their children.

As another part of the family book night, parents watched a video about the upcoming book fair, to be held during parent-teacher conferences on Wednesday, March 28 and during the school day from Tuesday, March 27-Thursday March 29.

Somali students fill the classrooms at Adam Abdulle Academy, a public charter school that opened its doors to grades K-5 in September 2005. The Academy strives to meet the distinct needs of the newly arrived student population, children who emigrated or whose parents emigrated from east Africa.

The school has recently partnered with AmeriCorps READS Initiative, a program of Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF), to create more opportunities for volunteer involvement and help meet students' literacy needs.

Families come together to learn at the Adult & Family Literacy Program, located at Hawthorne Education Center. Whether these families are from southeast Minnesota or from across the globe, they have similar goals for their children and themselves.

The school has recently partnered with the AmeriCorps READS Initiative, a program of Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF), to help meet the program’s and students' literacy needs. SMIF believes that vibrant communities build on the social and economic assets of their people and organizations. AmeriCorps READS Initiative Member Monica Maldonado is currently serving at this site.