We would like to give a huge thanks to Union Pacific for all the awesome family literacy programs they support. With their grants, we’ve been able to get books into kids hands:
And we’re able to conduct family literacy classes at places like the Bill Wilson Center, Scott Lane Preschool, and the HomeSafe Shelter.
Most of the children in the three preschool classes that we see are new to school and new to us at the beginning of the school year. I don’t know if they had ever seen ladies like us before – singing songs with puppets and acting out stories, getting them up to jump and dance. And, at first, they don’t know quite what to think! But it doesn’t take long for them to start running up to us when we arrive, peeking at the props and books we are carrying, and asking what we’re going to do today. And then, once inside, we can hardly keep them from sitting on our feet, because they all want to be as close as possible and not miss anything.
Here’s a story from one of our family literacy librarians:
At our February program we made marble race mazes. To be honest, we weren’t entirely sure that the group would see this project through, as it required planning and patience. To our delight, both children and parents loved it! Four girls, ages seven to eleven, sat together and worked on their projects for over forty-five minutes, making them more and more elaborate. We had to remind them to be sure to get something to eat and choose their gift books. For a group that tends to rush through everything, this was quite an accomplishment.
A huge thanks to Union Pacific for making such a difference in these children’s lives.