March 2010 - Literacy

President's Message

How to spell R-O-T-A-R-Y, all over the world

“….one Rotarian at a time…”

March is Literacy month.  Traditionally, the clubs in the Centre Region of District 7350, including our State College Evening Rotary Club, hand out hundreds of dictionaries to third and fourth graders, in elementary schools within Centre County, PA. 

This year the project was coordinated by the Dictionary Project Committee including Mary Johnston and one of our newest members – Bonnie Abrams.

Another one of our newer members is Cathearina (“Tineke, a Committee of One”) Cunning. She made sure that poor public schools in the Luzon region of the Philippines (through four local Rotary Clubs on the island) had the books that most of us in America take for granted--not just dictionaries, but books from pre-school through the college level. 

I recently had brunch with Tineke and Bonnie.  I was curious about their literacy project efforts as Rotarians, and their thoughts on education in general. 

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Bonnie Abrams has recently retired, after 31 years of teaching every subject, as an elementary education teacher in the Park Forest, Matternville and, most recently, Grey’s Woods schools in State College, Centre County. So, as a new Rotarian, she naturally gravitated towards her passion of anything in Rotary that involves working with children: the Dictionary Project, and soon, as Chair of the Four-Way Test Speech Contest for our club, in District 7350.

Bonnie firmly believes: “The value and experience that children of age 7-10 receive from a dictionary is immeasurable.  Most have grown up with computers, with spell-checkers. It’s easier to learn how to pronounce words, or understand their meanings, with a dictionary.” Her project involved distributing 75 dictionaries to three separate classes in her former school, where she had taught some of these same children, in Grey’s Woods Elementary.  “The kids were excited…their favorite thing was to look up the longest word in the dictionary…I also had them look through their dictionary and review all of the states of the Union, and Presidents; I showed them the math and measurements section. This version has larger print, and is easier for the children to read.”

I got the impression, while speaking with her, that she had as much fun as the kids she spoke with, during her visit.  Her professional teaching skills with this level of grade school children made this an extremely successful project, as she compared Rotary to doing for others, and asked them: “What other organizations can you think of, that do SERVICE ABOVE SELF, like Rotary?” “Can you think of other organizations that DO FOR OTHERS?” The answers she received were Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Easter Seals, and THON (Penn State’s Dance Marathon, just recently ended, that raised $7.8Million for Pediatric Cancer).   She spoke with me about her passion:  “I love working with children, and, even after retirement, I volunteer at Grey’s Woods.”  Bonnie also is a docent/volunteer, at Boogersburg School, in State College, PA, participating, in full dress period costume, in a one act play entitled “A Day in the Life of Children,” comparing childhood experiences in education, in the year 1877, to today.

Our club has received many letters of thanks, handwritten by the children of Grey’s Woods Elementary that received (and are using) their dictionaries; the same children who are glad to have Mrs. Abrams back in their classroom, once again.

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Dr. Tineke Cunning, after 20 years of previous service at Penn State, is an Affiliate Assistant Professor of Education and Director of International Career Services, in the School of International Affairs.  She is also the Rotary District 7350 Alumni and Literacy Chair. 

In March, 2009, Tineke was the District’s Group Study Exchange Team Leader - of - four to the Philippines.  Because of her education and university specialty, the required vocational visit to schools in the country inspired her to ship 25,000 books, coordinated through four clubs within Rotary District 3770 in the Philippines.  Rotary District 3770 is comprised of 65 clubs, with 1,619 members.  The specific clubs receiving the books that were collected and shipped were Tuguegoraro Citadel Rotary, Malalos Rotary, Calumpit Rotary, and Cabanatuan City Rotary.  The Club’s four Presidents will be coordinating the distribution of these books to public schools in the Luzon Region. 

I was impressed.  I asked Tineke what was the basis for her inspiration, to which she responded: “We take for granted how many resources we have here (in the United States).  There is a need for updated books in other countries such as the Philippines.  There, a library has as many books as the average American has in their home.”

Her massive coordination effort involved so many different people, too numerous to mention. Here in America, at a recent District Assembly, then District-Governor Jerry Friedman put out a call for books to be donated by all 44 clubs in District 7350. In State College, PA., also, at the District Assembly, the Waynesboro Interact Club, adopted the Philippines Children’s Book Project as their project for the year.  They collected over 3500 books.  Tineke drove to Waynesboro and collected these books from the club and brought them to her home for storage in her garage.  Additionally, she collected books as part of book drives conducted by the Centre for the Performing Arts, the Penn State University libraries, as well as many other individuals throughout the Centre Region.  Over the 2009 Thanksgiving  break at Penn State, with approximately 8,000 books loaded in her truck, a rented U-Haul trailer and a personal check to support the cost of shipping the books, she drove the load to B.I.G., Inc. (Books for International Goodwill), an organization started by a Rotary Club in Parole, Maryland, outside Annapolis. 

Imagine: 25,000 books, weighing 15,000 pounds, shipped, by bound box, on pallets, and placed in a container, loaded aboard a freighter, bound for Manila, Philippines. As of this writing, the books have been received and are awaiting customs and tariff clearance.

One year’s concerted effort by a dedicated Rotarian, who told me: “I will challenge anyone who says that one person can’t make a difference – they can.”

President Ray

2009-2010 Monthly Rotary International Themes

2009  July (Induction/Organization)     August (Membership & Extension)      September (New Generations)  

October (Vocational Service)       November  (Rotary Foundation)     December (Family)

2010  January (Rotary Awareness)  February (World Understanding)    March (Literacy)

April (Magazine)    May (Year in Review)     June (Fellowship)