The Coco Book Drive - May Newsletter 2015

Newsletter
May 2015

arrow tip

DREAM = Literacy: The Coco Book Drive

Our Public and Mobile Library Program has long been inspired by a little girl and her love of reading. Coco's corner has been a very special place in our Cabarete Public Library which, in many ways, launched our culture of reading. Ace, Jen (loving parents) and Coco have since inspired our "DREAM con Libros" Mobile Library Program, providing literacy opportunities to hundreds of children from Puerto Plata to Cabrera. This June, Coco will be reading a lot of books and she challenges you to donate one book for each that she reads. To see our reading list and make a donation, click here.

Our Doors are Always Open

DREAM welcomed both old and new friends to our annual DREAM Open House, with delicious food provided by Claro Caf? and a firsthand look at our innovative programs. Although our Open House was last week, our doors are open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and offer the best tour in town! Please come and see how we DREAM.

My Very Own Library
Provides More Books

More than 2,000 students from 12 schools across the North Coast participated in their third book fair hosted by The DREAM Project in partnership with friends and family of Anne Feeley, My Very Own Library and Scholastic. Each student selected three Scholastic books to create their very own home libraries, which now total 10 NEW books. For the book fair in Puerto Plata, DREAM partnered with the Ivan Garcia Theatre School, with a focus on "Getting to know Don Quixote," adding a Dominican twist to this classic tale by blending reading and performance art.

DREAM Youth Leadership
in Columbia

The United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace, or Oficina de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Deporte para el Desarrollo y la Paz (UNOSDP), invited DPV Master Coaches Nico and Nirelis to participate in their annual youth leadership conference in Medellin, Colombia. They were the only representatives from the Dominican Republic and played a critical role in defining how we can expand sports for education and development throughout Latin America.

Santo Domingo's
International Book Fair

DREAM was proud to participate in the Feria Internacional del Libro in Santo Domingo, a national event that has existed since 1950. DREAM presented various workshops about the importance of developing a culture of reading and our literacy work in various communities. In addition, DREAM's Young Stars students visited the book fair and learned first hand how the habit of reading is growing across the Dominican Republic.

DREAMer of the Month

Ana Gal?n

Scholastic author Ana Gal?n enjoyed her work with the DREAM students in the first My Very Own Library Book Fair in December and decided to come back. She ran a week-long writing workshop for the Young Stars students in May. Our students wrote their own books!! A big thank you to Ana as we look forward to seeing the children's book she is writing with Dominican illustrator Kilia Llanos about DREAM's work with growing the culture of reading in Cabarete.

Donors of the Month

A special thank you to all who gave this month, including:

Fabrice Grinda     Michel Zaleski     Norman Lerchen
Benjamin De Menil     Jack Cumming    Richard Weber
Kansas State University Foundation     Dr. Gary Knighton
Adventures Cross Country     Education First
Student Association at Binghamton University
Geomar Foundation     Chic to Chic
Frank & Linda Cassirer     Robert Ottis
Betty White    Amber & Steve Dolphin Moechnig
And all who gave through the Yris Quijano Fundraiser
and the Tatiana Gutierrez Fundraiser