It's finally here! Lochearn:C.A.R.E.S. starts up again today! We cannot wait to see the smiling faces at Lochearn of the community volunteers and the happy students and teachers to see everyone back. We have some new people joining us this year as well and want to welcome you into our school community. It is going to be a great year of reading! Check out the blog from time to time for new happenings with the program. Thank you for volunteering your time in the Lochearn School Community.
Kim
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Welcome back to Lochearn:CARES
It has been a great summer break and we are ready to begin Lochearn:CARES again!!!! We are so excited to see familiar faces of our volunteers from last year and some brand new faces involved this year. The program will start up on October 17th and run until the end of April 2012. If you would like to volunteer for this program at Lochearn, please call the school at 403-845-3721 and we will be able to get you started. We are looking forward to another fabulous year! Thank you for all of enthusiasm and dedication to the program!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast
In appreciation of all of your hard work and dedication to the Lochearn School community, we would like to invite you to the volunteer appreciation breakfast on June 9, 2011 from 8:30-9:00. There will be muffins, coffee and a short presentation. We can not wait to see you there!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Thank You Volunteers
What a wonderful year we have had! Some volunteers are finishing up now, and we would like to thank everyone for their time and dedication to the Lochearn Community. Stay tuned for invitations to our Lochearn Volunteer Breakfast in June. If you are interested in participating next year, please let your teachers know.
Does it make a difference when community members volunteer in your school?
I have always believed that parents and other community members could make a difference in schools and have recently had that notion confirmed. I had the opportunity to talk with a community volunteer and was touched by his sincere appreciation and understanding of a student he listens to read.
The volunteer works in our community and has no real connection to the elementary school. He volunteers an hour each week out of his busy schedule and says it is one of the best things he has done. He readily admits that he had no idea of the varying needs our students have.
The last week that he was in to volunteer the regular teacher was away and the substitute teacher said to take who ever he wanted to listen to. He asked the kids who wanted to read and was very surprised to see the hand of a young fellow who struggles shoot up. He chose another student and told the other one that he was next. The struggling reader beamed, the volunteer thought that was weird thinking, that kid has to work so hard to read.
When it came time for the struggling reader to read he brought a book about legends of mythical creatures which was unusual, because he usually brought comic books and generally just talked about the pictures rather than read the words. He opened the book to a page that he had marked and began reading fluently and continued to this for another page and then skipped a page that had words with definitions. The volunteer was a bit confused and was wondering what the difference was. He asked the student why he had skipped the page and he said he didn’t know. The volunteer stated that they should read it because he wasn’t sure what some of those big words meant. When they went back to the page the student struggled, needing assistance from the volunteer. They went on to the next page and he was able to read it well. The volunteer stopped him and asked what the difference was and the reader said, “Well, I practiced three pages, I read them four times because I wanted to show you that I could read them to you”.
The volunteer’s heart was touched deeply – this kid had worked so hard to impress him. He knows he made a connection with that student and in doing so made a difference.
Written by: Alexis Holstead
The volunteer works in our community and has no real connection to the elementary school. He volunteers an hour each week out of his busy schedule and says it is one of the best things he has done. He readily admits that he had no idea of the varying needs our students have.
The last week that he was in to volunteer the regular teacher was away and the substitute teacher said to take who ever he wanted to listen to. He asked the kids who wanted to read and was very surprised to see the hand of a young fellow who struggles shoot up. He chose another student and told the other one that he was next. The struggling reader beamed, the volunteer thought that was weird thinking, that kid has to work so hard to read.
When it came time for the struggling reader to read he brought a book about legends of mythical creatures which was unusual, because he usually brought comic books and generally just talked about the pictures rather than read the words. He opened the book to a page that he had marked and began reading fluently and continued to this for another page and then skipped a page that had words with definitions. The volunteer was a bit confused and was wondering what the difference was. He asked the student why he had skipped the page and he said he didn’t know. The volunteer stated that they should read it because he wasn’t sure what some of those big words meant. When they went back to the page the student struggled, needing assistance from the volunteer. They went on to the next page and he was able to read it well. The volunteer stopped him and asked what the difference was and the reader said, “Well, I practiced three pages, I read them four times because I wanted to show you that I could read them to you”.
The volunteer’s heart was touched deeply – this kid had worked so hard to impress him. He knows he made a connection with that student and in doing so made a difference.
Written by: Alexis Holstead
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Smiling Faces :)...Thank you!
What a successful time we have had with the Lochearn CARES reading program! I just love seeing the hustle and bustle in the library and the smiling faces of students and volunteers as they are reading! Just a reminder that Spring Break is next week from Mar.28-Apr.1. I hope to see all of you back Apr. 4th reading with your classes. We will continue Lochearn CARES until the end of April and then resume it in the new year. I will contact you closer to the end of April for feedback and hopefully add your name to the list of volunteers for next year. Thank you for all of you time and effort that you put into the students at Lochearn. You really do make a difference!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Mountaineer Article
JJlochearnreading: (With photos)
Encouraging literacy one student at a time
Reading program at Lochearn a success
Green pieces of paper riddle the library walls at Lochearn Elementary School to display the number of children who have benefited from a reading program that was introduced last November.
The reading program called Lochearn: CARES (Community in Action for Reading in Education for Students) is an initiative that brought volunteers from the community into the school to read with students from kindergarten to Grade 5.
The program, initiated by Kim Wedman, Alexis Holstead and Vera McLeod, has been successful in enhancing community relationships.
“It is really neat that Lochearn is a community school … it’s so fun that the students are excited and the volunteers are excited; it’s a great energy,” Danielle Spencer, principal of Lochearn Elementary School, said about observing the reading program taking place within the school.
Volunteers are assigned to a classroom and they focus on reading with each individual student for roughly five to 10 minutes — one hour per week.
Lochearn: CARES volunteer Terri-Lynn Johannesson reads with Grade 4 students. She says that she always makes sure “the students are participating.”
“I get them to look at the pictures and I sound out the words with them,” she said. “I like seeing that the students feel they have accomplished something. They are happy to come and read and happy to see you.”
Another Lochearn: CARES volunteer Tammy Cote assigned to Grade 1 students has a common sentiment to share.
“The kids are fun and they keep you thinking. This is a great way to spend an hour and I wouldn’t mind doing it longer.”
Not only does the program help to increase literacy, it is also about the relationships that students make with the volunteers. Lochearn: CARES volunteer Gary Hiney says the students benefit from having his undivided attention.
“It is a unique program to connect with kids and communicate with them; it’s one-to-one communication,” he said.
“There is definitely a need for the program and it creates an environment where we can pay attention to the students.”
Kim Wedman, student support facilitator at Lochearn Elementary School, says that she is encouraged by what she has seen.
“It’s been a great success to build a community at Lochearn,” she said.
“People leave the building happy and the students are happy to read to other people and this is good for their learning.”
Lochearn: CARES runs until April but Wedman says next year they may look at running it longer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)