letter to colleagues

Dear Colleague,

We thought you might be interested in knowing the progress of "If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything," a reading promotion program for schools on reservations. "If I Can Read" began in fall 1999 with support by Sarah Long, then President of the American Library Association. The Pueblo of Laguna (New Mexico) provided the salary for a half-time graduate student from June 1999 through December 2000 and supported site visits to the pilot school, Laguna Elementary School. We are now in the midst of year two. We received additional funding from the Tocker Foundation to fund a graduate student's salary in 2001. We now serve seven schools: Browning Middle School (Montana); Laguna Elementary School (New Mexico); Red Mesa High School (Arizona); Rock Point Community School (Arizona); Sacaton Elementary School (Arizona); St. PetersIndian Mission School (Arizona); and To'Hajiilee Community School (New Mexico). Additional schools will be added in fall 2001. Enclosed is some recent publicity about the project. Our goals for 2000-2001 include:

serving nearly 3,000 children with new books and reading incentives;
developing a video storytelling series to promote language arts skills;
coordinating storyteller and/or author visits to the schools;
organizing annual electronic chats among the students;
initiating a Native language translation program;
drafting a culturally responsive reading manual;
organizing a network of couriers to deliver books and materials to the schools;
recruiting sponsors for the schools;
initiating collaborative writing projects;
providing staff development to library staff;
maintaining the project web page at http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~ifican;
writing an online newsletter of project activities;
and promoting the project through talks at professional meetings and publications.

We will continue to inform you of our progress. We greatly appreciate your interest and look forward to finding ways to involve you in our activities. Sincerely,

Loriene Roy, Director
"If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything": A Reading Promotion Program for Schools on Reservations

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Letter to Colleagues