Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so I want to express my gratitude to so many people who help make EWI and Power Read a success: our volunteer reading mentors who generously give their time each week; our students and families who believe in Power Read and the importance of reading; our school partners who value our work and provide access to their students and the space to host our programs; our corporate partners, donors, and EWI board members who provide leadership and invaluable resources to sustain our organization; and our EWI staff who work tirelessly to provide the connections and coordination needed day in and day out. I am truly thankful for you all!

This school year has brought several newcomers to EWI. I’m so happy to welcome Gina Ruggle, our new Perry site coordinator, and Ken Chester, Jr., Morgan Schultz, Betsy Noyes, and Elizabeth Heffernan, who have all joined our Board of Directors.

This year has also included the news of children’s literacy rates dropping to a 30-year low nationally, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Amplify, a curriculum provider, states that only 53% of second-graders are on track in reading this fall, compared to 57% in 2019. This just means that our Power Read programs are needed more than ever. Even if you don't have time to volunteer as a reading mentor, you can support our work.

Giving Tuesday is coming up on November 29, and that’s a perfect time to make a contribution. Or maybe you’d like to spread your donations out over the year, with an automatic withdrawal once a month. Please click here to get started. If you’d like to chat with us and make a donation in person, visit us at Beaverdale Books’ Giving Sunday event on November 27. See more details below in the Picture This section.

Last but certainly not least, we still have many students waiting for a mentor, so if you have a half hour weekly to read with a student, please apply to become a mentor, or share our need with a friend and encourage them to mentor.

Our students recently received their first new book to take home and share with their families. Our first-graders received Narwhal's Otter Friends; second- and third-graders received The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids #1: Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots, and fourth- to sixth-graders received Once Upon a Space-Time. Click here for photos from recent Power Read sessions.

Staff Scene

Christine Russell, site coordinator

Christine Russell says she’s always been an advocate for children and reading. A former elementary reading teacher, it’s no surprise she found a home with Everybody Wins! Iowa as a program manager and then site coordinator. “I really enjoy the opportunity to see children and their excitement when they get into books,” she says, noting that data show reading to children is beneficial to improving reading scores and comprehension. But she also takes great pleasure in working with the schools: “I see a lot of enthusiasm and good things happening in our schools, and one of the strengths of our program is bringing volunteers into the schools so members of the community can see that they’re doing a great job.” Christine has been on the EWI staff since 2014 and currently coordinates Power Read at Northwest and Southeast elementary schools in Ankeny.

Mentor Moment

Chase Feldman, mentor 

Chase Feldman discovered Everybody Wins! Iowa in 2019 and was soon sidelined as a mentor by the COVID pandemic. That didn’t lessen his enthusiasm, though. The father of a 5-year-old and 7-year-old reads at both Northwest Elementary in Ankeny and Cattell Elementary in Des Moines. Chase says he’s a fan of both the literacy and mentoring aspects of Power Read. “With all of the students, but especially the fifth-graders, I can tell they’re growing in their reading and that they’re getting excited about books,” he says. “But I also think the kids are very excited to have somebody to talk to, to have somebody who will listen. As mentors, we’re adults who are not going to judge.” And as the father of young children there’s one more thing he likes about Power Read: the convenience of being able to mentor over the lunch hour. 

Please join us at Beaverdale Books from 12-4 on November 27 for the bookstore’s Giving Sunday event! EWI representatives will be chatting with shoppers, signing up mentors, and accepting donations. Beaverdale Books is also generously donating a portion of their sales along with two diverse children’s books. Beaverdale Books is located at 2629 Beaver Ave. #1 in Des Moines.

And of course, don’t forget Giving Tuesday is November 29. As you look to make a difference in your communities this season, we encourage you to donate to EWI. Your gift will help us reach our goals to continue to grow our programming, providing books and materials for students in our Power Read weekly sessions and helping us grow our student's home libraries. When you make your contribution, please include a comment about why literacy and/or mentoring is important to you. We may feature your comment in future social media posts and marketing efforts! (We’ll just include your first name.)

Follow us on social media (links at the top and bottom of this email), visit our website, and look for updates in future newsletters for more details on these and future events.

The cost of supporting one student is $500. Please click here to sponsor a student today. We are thankful for the support of all our program sponsors.

Our recent October donors are:

$3,000.00 - Central Presbyterian Church

$500.00 - Lincoln Savings Bank

$1,000.00 - Bankers Trust

$500.00 - Wells Fargo Bank (volunteer match for Mariah Wormley)

Want to donate? Click here.

Interested in mentoring, joining the board, or serving on a committee? Click here.

Have an idea or suggestion for Power Read, Everybody Wins! Iowa, or The Bookworm? Click here.

Everybody Wins! Iowa is a central Iowa non-profit organization whose mission is to increase children’s success in school and life through one-to-one reading and mentoring experiences with caring volunteers. Our signature program is Power Read, in which students read with the same volunteer mentor every week, usually over lunch.

Current program data through the end of October:

# of students enrolled: 286

# of book distributed: 1,725

# of other volunteers: 16

# of mentors: 292

# of volunteer hours: 959

# of program sites: 28