‘Diversity’ should just be called ‘reality.’ 
Your books, your TV shows, your movies, your articles, your curricula,
need to reflect reality. 
—Tananarive Due, author and American Book Award winner
In this newsletter:
  • October Literacy Resources: Global Diversity Awareness Month
  • Family Literacy Activities
  • Family Fun at the Franklin Park Zoo - October 22nd
  • Community Spotlight: Celebrating Joni Block & Maria Mombeleur!
  • Mass STEM Week 10/17 - 10/21
  • Rodman Ride for Kids - You can still support HERE
  • Who is supporting RAR-MA?
October Literacy Resources
Recursos de alfabetización de octubre
 
Wordless books are great for engaging children in dialogic reading and can work in any language!​
 
Here are some suggestions: 
  • Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie dePaola (See our Story Time Video)
  • The Red Book by Barbara Lehman 
  • The Girl and the Bicycle by Mark Pett​

October is Global Diversity Awareness Month. Our goal at RAR-MA is for each person, no matter their race, color, ethnicity, religious beliefs, gender, or sexual orientation to have equal opportunities to find success in education and life. We strive to provide inclusive materials so all young readers can see themselves represented in the stories they consume.

We have found a few resources to help guide you & your child’s learning journey:
Family Literacy Activities
Actividades de Alfabetización Para la Familia
Our Family Literacy Calendar is a handy day-by-day resource of simple literacy-building activities and fun that you and your family can easily do at home!

¡Nuestro Calendario de Alfabetización Familiar es un recurso útil para el día a día con actividades sencillas de alfabetización y diversión que usted y su familia pueden hacer fácilmente en casa!

For simple, at-home literacy activities to engage your child and the whole family, visit our daily literacy calendar and Storytime videos pages!

Para actividades simples de alfabetización en el hogar para involucrar a su hijo y a toda la familia, ¡visite nuestro calendario diario de alfabetización y las páginas de videos de tiempo de cuentos!
Join us at the Franklin Park Zoo!
The Franklin Park Zoo is hosting us for a multilingual storytime! 

We’ll have crafts, music, and stories in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Cape Verdean Creole! Plus - every family in attendance gets a free book!!!

Here are the details:

Date: Saturday, October 22 from 11:30AM - 1:00PM (Rain or Shine) 


Registration Form: https://bit.ly/rarmazoo22

Deadline to register: October 15, 2022 

Families are invited to stay after the event to enjoy the zoo!

And here is the approximate schedule for the readings:
  • English: 11:00  
  • Spanish: 11:30  
  • Mandarin: 12:00 
  • Cape Verdean Creole: 12:30

RAR-MA Community Spotlight: Maria Mombeleur & Joni Block
Maria Mombeleur

Please join us in celebrating the amazing Maria Mombeleur, our Associate Program Director, for her 10th anniversary with Raising A Reader Massachusetts! Incredible!

Maria is an essential and vibrant member of our team. “We are so fortunate to have her passion, commitment, and advocacy,” says Executive Director Christine Ward. 

“Her beautiful smile, joyful presence, positive attitude, and expert knowledge touch us all… [the entire RAR-MA community] is richer through their connection to her,” says Program Director Katee Duffy.

Maria continues to be a force for good in her Brockton community and beyond. Thank you for all you have done toward bettering our community and for all you will do in the future - and for being a wonderful coworker.

You can read more about her time with the organization in her own words and hear more of us singing her praises here on our blog.
Joni Block

We also would like to highlight the work of one of our long time partners and advocates, Joni Block, who recently retired from her role as Brockton Coordinated Family & Community Engagement (CFCE) Coordinator.

Joni is a champion of RAR-MA’s work and is an amazing member of the Brockton community. The CFCE shares our goal of improving early literacy, which is how she originally connected with Maria Mombeleur! 

Working with RAR-MA became an important part of her role helping caregivers. As Joni put it, “My role was working with families and providing support for them to “be their child’s first teacher.” RAR-MA was a perfect tool for that… [Raising A Reader MA] has impacted how I integrate early literacy in my community as well as how I share that info with colleagues across the state.”

Thank you for your continued support and your dedication to your community, Joni, we’re all lucky to have you working to close the early literacy opportunity gap!
Massachusetts STEM Week 2022: October 17 – 21
Join us in celebrating the 5th annual Massachusetts STEM week this year! For the last 4 years, our state has worked to boost the interest, awareness and opportunities for all learners to engage with STEM education and envision careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. 

Raising A Reader works to provide culturally relevant books to all we serve. It is vitally important for young readers to see themselves in their educational resources. We have developed a curriculum that includes a robust offering STEM-specific reading for ages 0-6, knowing we must elevate this field for learners of all ages. 
 
This makes us particularly delighted that this year’s theme is “See Yourself in STEM.” The focus is on bringing underrepresented groups in the STEM fields valuable learning resources - a core part of our mission every day! 
 
We recommend checking out these lists of STEM books geared towards readers ages Zero to Three, as well as exploring any and all resources offered by the state.

Learn more about Massachusetts STEM week here.
We're almost there! Won't you help us hit our goal?
We had a great time on a lovely day at the Rodman Ride event last weekend... but we still need your help to hit our goal!

Fundraising for riders does not officially close until October 31st - we can still use your help! We are so close to hitting a crucial benchmark - if we hit at least $20,000 raised, we are awarded even more through the Rodman organization! Every dollar goes towards our mission of closing the childhood literacy gap and providing crucial resources to families in Massachusetts.  

To learn more about the event and how you can support Raising A Reader Massachusetts, check out our team page at raisingareaderma.org/rodman.
Who's Supporting RAR-MA?
We are pleased to be a partner in BCH's Collaboration for Community Health, having received a multi-year grant to support our RAR-MA communities in Boston, Chelsea, Lynn, and Revere.

The work we do toward helping young learners cannot be done without the generosity and thoughtfulness of our partners in our mission. 

Thank you all so much, from the entire RAR-MA community.
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