I will be tutoring at the Gururkulam School in Chennai, India with 20 students and several faculty and staff members, March 7 - 9. This will be a great opportunity for me, the students, and other participants to read there. This school field trip in India is one of scores offered to the participants.
We will work with the local Rotary Club, which is dedicated to helping disadvantaged children. The Gururkulam School was founded by a charitable organization, Trust Children, dedicated to supporting families who live in poor areas of Chennai. There are currently 144 children who need support, mentoring, and tutoring. We will stay nearby in a youth hostel.
The trip is being led by Jeffry Kottler, a professor of Counseling at California State University, Fullerton. He is an SAS Spring 2011 faculty member who is teaching psychology courses on ship. Kottler heads a foundation that provides scholarships for lower caste girls in Nepal who are at-risk of being sold into slavery (empowerneplaligirls.org). He has worked extensively with students on social justice projects within their local communities and abroad.
He is the author of over 75 books in psychology, counseling, and education, including a New York Times bestselling true crime book, The Last Victim and Travel That Can Change Your Life.
I am a free-lance journalist and author of several award-winning children’s books, including “More Than Anything Else,” an ALA Notable Book and winner of the International Reading Association Award. It’s the story of a boy who wants to learn to read. It was just released in Simple Japanese and Chinese, and is available in Korean and Spanish and Mandarin. I have brought along copies of the Japanese and Chinese to give to families in those countries.
My other books include: the novel, “Some Friend,” which received a Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review, and “Momma, Where Are You From?” a Nest Literary Classic and winner of the Golden Kite Award Honor.
As a journalist, I write for newspapers and magazines, specializing in profiles of news-makers, women’s and social justice issues, op-ed columns, and travel. I am a member of the Author’s Guild, the Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators and the Society of Professional Journalists.
Marie Bradby
Journalist & Children's Author
mariebradby.com
Thank You Teri Cettina our Ambassador in Portland, Oregon!
Teri Cettina is a Portland, Oregon-based freelance writer and editor. She has wielded a professional pen and keyboard since 1986 and has managed her own full-time writing business since 1997. She is currently a contributing editor to Parenting School Years magazine.
Join freelance writer and editor TERI CETTINA for a Bedtime Story Read Aloud in your JAMMIES!
DATE: Wednesday, March 9, 2011
WHERE: Woodstock Library
6008 S. E. 49th Avenue
TIME: 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Contact: 503-988-5399
Check out this clip from AM Northwest where Teri spoke about World Read Aloud Day:
Thanks to Ambassador Lian Dolan in Los Angeles, California!
See Lian at Bedtime Reading in your Jammies!
Pasadena Public Library Lamanda Branch
March 9, 2011 from 6:30 to 7:30
140 South Altadena Drive, Pasadena, CA
(626) 744-7266
Lian Dolan is a mother, wife, sister, friend, daughter, writer, novelist, and talk show host. Her professional resume includes: waitress, ski bum, sports video producer, and urban archaeologist. But for the last decade, she has been a Satellite Sister and a Chaos Chronicler. Lian created Satellite Sisters, an award-winning talk show, blog, and website, with her four real sisters. From 2000 to 2009, Satellite Sisters won 8 Gracie Allen Awards for Excellence in Women’s Media, including Talk Show of the Year in 2006. On air, Lian interviewed everybody from Bill Clinton to Nora Roberts to Maya Angelou. Read more at chaoschronicles.com.
Lian talked with LitWorld about the importance of literacy...
For me, literacy is about independence. Research tells us that lifting up the economic condition of women and children can lift up the economy of an entire country. That's true here in America and abroad. Literacy is key to economic independence for women. It allows women to start businesses, educate their children, access medical care and break the cycle of poverty. Being able to read means so much more than just understanding the words on a page.
My motto as a mother is: I never say no to a book. When my kids were little and they held up a book for me to read, I would stop whatever I was doing to read aloud to them. Maybe my house wasn't as clean as the other moms, but I don't regret that for a minute! Now that my boys are older, I make sure we get in plenty of trips to the library and the bookstore and, on long car trips, we listen to books on tapes. Sharing a story with them is still one of my favorite activities.
Give a listen to her radio show mentioning World Read Aloud Day!
A Special Thank You to the Political Supporters of World Read Aloud Day!
This year, LitWorld has been lucky to receive the support of many local and national political figures.
New York's Deputy Mayor for Education and Community Development Dennis M. Walcott and Deputy Chancellor of Education Santiago Taveras will be joining us at our 24-Hour Read-Aloud Marathon in Times Square.
US Senator Kristen Gillibrand of New York, Governor Rick Scott of Florida, Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana, and California Superintendent of Schools Tom Torlakson sent letters of support for LitWorld and World Read Aloud Day.
Governor Jay Nixon of Missouri, Governor Mark Dayton of Minnesota, and Governor Jack A. Markell issued LitWorld’s World Read Aloud Day Proclamation, officially declaring March 9th, 2011 World Read Aloud Day in their respective states.
We appreciate the support of the political community in helping us spread the message that reading matters, and that quality education is both a human right in itself and an essential means of attaining all other human rights!
Thank You to Crystal Catalan, Our WRAD Ambassador in Baguio, Philippines!
Our Ambassador in Baguio, Philippines, Crystal Catalan, is organizing a great World Read Aloud Day event from her corner of the world! Crystal is living in Baguio serving as a missioner for the Cabrini Mission Corps, and has been doing an amazing job rallying the schools in her local community to participate!
She has spread the World Read Aloud Day message to the Yagyagan Elementary School on the outskirts of Baguio, and put together special packets with LitWorld Material. She has initiated a reading contest, where she will give a prize to the class and/or student who tallies the most amount of minutes reading aloud. She will be collecting the tally sheets on Thursday, March 10th, so from now until March 9th, the classes will be able to read aloud - either at home, or in their classes!
Here's another great message from Crystal:
"In connection with World Read Aloud Day, I will also be providing the classes with some books, which contain short stories, that they may also use as reading material. Our NGO is also looking to conduct a book drive to donate some books to the school's library, which is lacking very much in elementary reading material. In preparation for the upcoming school year, which will start in June, we hope to bulk up their library!
Also, our NGO is a center that facilitates the Alternative Learning System, which provides out-of-school youth with the opportunity to complete modules/lesson plans, take an exam in October, and if the student passes, he/she will receive the equivalence of a high school diploma, and he/she can then enroll into a college or apply to a vocational program. With that being said, there are some students that the facilitator has assigned to me, and we will be reading together next week, to celebrate World Read Aloud Day! Some of these students, though in their teenage years, are at a very basic level of reading and writing, so this will be great practice for them, as well. "
Sounds like it's going to be a great event in Baguio, and we're excited to have an Ambassador as wonderful as Crystal to make this happen for the community. To check out her NGO, please visit The Save Our School Children Foundation, Inc. at www.soscfi.org
Crystal was sent to Baguio by the Cabrini Missions Org: www.cabrinimissioncorps.org
