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Reading to Kids News
September 9, 2021
 

Dear Friends of Reading to Kids,

HELP! 11 MORE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
FOR THIS SATURDAY!

We are now up to 26 teachers who have committed as Zoom hosts for this Saturday - so we need 11 more volunteers this Saturday morning to read aloud to their students on Zoom!

Zoom reading clubs

We must continue to limit RSVPs for these virtual "Back to School Fun" reading clubs only to returning volunteers- people who have volunteered with us at least once before at any of our previous face-to-face or virtual reading clubs.

Here's your chance to read to kids again this Saturday, no matter where in the world you live! Help us meet our promise to provide volunteer readers to every teacher Zoom host! See further below how virtual clubs work.

Please also encourage any of your friends and family who have ever read with us at any of our prior reading clubs (face-to-face or virtual) to RSVP now at our homepage at www.readingtokids.org!

(If you are signed up but can't attend after all, please click here to cancel ASAP or before 3:00 p.m. tomorrow so someone else can take your place!)

If you check our website and find all reader spots are full today or tomorrow, please keep checking back so we'll have enough volunteers.

STAND-BY READERS WANTED!

If all spots are full you can also let us know at info@readingtokids.org if you are willing to be a "stand-by" reader for this Saturday. A "stand-by" reader is someone willing to fill in for any grade at any school if we have any last-second reader cancellations.

Stand-by readers must be available this Saturday morning from 8am to around 11am and willing to read via Zoom to any grade at any school. It's a really important role!
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HOW VIRTUAL READING CLUBS WORK

Zoom reading clubs

Because LAUSD has not yet determined when volunteer organizations can return to on-campus events, we continue to use Zoom for these virtual reading clubs.

The reading clubs will be hosted by participating teachers at each school using their school Zoom accounts, but you will need your own Zoom account to join the reading club. If you don’t already have a Zoom account, you can sign up for a free, Basic account here: https://zoom.us/pricing

IMPORTANT: You will need to use Zoom from a desktop or laptop computer. The phone and tablet versions of Zoom do not have the necessary features for our virtual reading clubs.

Ideally, anyone who volunteers for these virtual reading clubs will be comfortable using Zoom. If you wish to test out your Zoom connectivity prior to the reading clubs, we encourage you to email us at info@readingtokids.org so we may do a brief test run with you before the virtual reading clubs.

The Friday before the reading clubs you will receive a link for a Zoom "check-in" session with your Site Coordinators that will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. that Saturday. Click here to review the schedule for these virtual reading clubs.

Once you and your fellow volunteers are checked in, that same Zoom session will have a Zoom Volunteer Orientation / Virtual Reading Club Training that will start promptly at 9:15 a.m.

At 9:30 a.m. you and your volunteer partner will leave that Site Coordinator session and then join the teacher's Zoom session. The teacher will host the Zoom call and make you co-hosts. The first 30 minutes will be for troubleshooting and a prep session for just you and your reading partner and the teacher.

The kids will join that same reading club Zoom session at 10:00 a.m., and it will likely go until 10:30 or 11:00, at the teacher's discretion.

After the reading clubs end you will then rejoin your Site Coordinator's Zoom call for a brief wrap-up.

To screen share the book you will be reading with the children, you will need Adobe Acrobat or the free Adobe Reader from https://get.adobe.com/reader.

We will provide you a PDF of the read-aloud book so you can prepare for the reading clubs. You can see the read-aloud book titles for this month at https://readingtokids.org/Books/BooksMonth.php.

We will provide at the above link activities and simple craft ideas the kids can do at home. You would prepare to lead the kids in an activity and craft, though you may not actually do a craft, depending upon how the Zoom session goes. The kids may just want to talk to new faces!

Kindergarten crafts at LA Elementary
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BLACK PANTHER AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL
WITH READING TO KIDS THIS SUNDAY

This Sunday, September 12th, join fellow Reading to Kids volunteers as we watch a screening of Black Panther at the Hollywood Bowl - with the soundtrack performed live by the L.A. Philharmonic!

The Bowl opens at 5:30pm, and the movie starts at 7:30pm. We'll sit towards the back of the Bowl in section W1.

Tickets are $25 only $20 each. E-mail Cynthia Montes at cynthia.montes.45@gmail.com to purchase before she sells out - she only has a few tickets left!

Please also RSVP to our Facebook event, and you can click the images below for details and a map.

Black Panther at the Hollywood Bowl flyer

Black Panther at the Hollywood Bowl map
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10 RUNNERS NEEDED FOR THE
2022 LA MARATHON, 1/2 MARATHON, OR 5 K!

Do you know any runners? Are you a runner? Please forward this email to them and ask them to join Team Reading to Kids in the 2022 Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday, March 20th!

 Team Reading to Kids logo

We're looking for at least six more marathon runners and four Charity Challenge runners (the last 13 miles of the course) to join us in one of the best marathons in the country.

If either of those distances is too daunting, you can join us in the LA Big 5K (that's just 3.1 miles) near Dodger Stadium the day before the marathon on Saturday, March 19, 2022.

You can share this Facebook group with any of your runner friends to encourage them to join our team!

If you or a runner you know is interested in becoming one of our fundraising runners or creating a fundraising team, please email Chris Martin at marathon@readingtokids.org!

IMPORTANT NOTE: To register to run on behalf of Reading to Kids, you MUST receive from us a special web address to use when registering on the Los Angeles Marathon website.

Team Reading to Kids LA Marathon runners
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SUPPORT US WITH GROCERY STORE ESCRIP & AMAZONSMILE

Ralphs

Did you know you can support Reading to Kids just by shopping at the grocery store or using your credit card?

eScrip and Ralphs both have programs that are NO COST ways for you to donate to Reading to Kids.

All you have to do is call Ralphs or go online and register your grocery cards.  When you use those cards at a participating store or service provider, the store will donate a percentage of your purchases to Reading to Kids

Click here for simple instructions on how to sign up or renew! Or, you can call Ralphs Community Contribution Program at (800) 443-4438. Explain you want to register your Ralphs card number and your telephone number. Reading to Kids NPO# is BR278.

Note if you have previously signed up: You have to renew your registration each year on or after September 1st, so please renew again for this year!

Amazon Smile

Do you shop on Amazon.com? If you shop using AmazonSmile, they will donate 0.5% of your purchases to Reading to Kids!

Click here for easy directions on how to start using AmazonSmile!

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Thanks, and we hope you can RSVP at www.readingtokids.org for this Saturday's "Back to School Fun" reading clubs!

Sincerely,

Charlie Orchard & Talethe Collins
Reading to Kids
1600 Sawtelle Blvd, Suite 210
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 479-7455
(310) 479-7435 (FAX)
info@readingtokids.org
www.readingtokids.org
www.facebook.com/readingtokids
www.twitter.com/readingtokids
www.readingtokids.blogspot.com

Make a donation:
www.readingtokids.org/HowToHelp/HelpDonate.php

SEPTEMBER 2021
Reading Club RSVPs
School RSVPs Capacity
Alta Loma 6 8
Esperanza 9 11
Gratts 9 12
Los Angeles 5 5
MacArthur Park 7 7
Magnolia 12 13
Politi 7 8
White 6 8
TOTAL 61 72
SEPTEMBER Books. . .
Kindergarten book
Kindergarten
First Grade book
First Grade
Second Grade book
Second Grade
Third Grade book
Third Grade
Fourth Grade book
Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade book
Fifth Grade

Reading to Kids is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Visit www.readingtokids.org for more information.

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