Wal-Mart's Teresa Jones donates books to ACEE.
January 2006
Hoopoe Books Share Literacy™ Program and Wal-Mart Donate Books to ACEE Students
ACEE (AmeriCorps for Community Engagement and Education) is pleased to announce that Bob Rogers, a volunteer for The Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge's Hoopoe Books Share Literacy program, has received an $800 grant from a local Wal-Mart store to provide new books to 284 children who are currently receiving tutoring from ACEE members. Teresa Jones, the Wal-Mart store manager who donated the funds, said she was delighted to be able to help put high-quality books into the hands of children who are not likely to have many books of their own. Wal-Mart has made literacy a focus of their community outreach.
The Hoopoe Books Share Literacy program works to provide books to children in low-income schools and daycare centers. Hoopoe Books are beautifully illustrated traditional Teaching-Stories™ from Afghanistan, Central Asia, and the Middle East that were collected and written by Afghan author Idries Shah. Scientific research has shown how these stories can be used to develop higher-level thinking skills in young children.
ACEE has used Hoopoe books in after-school book clubs and tutoring sessions with good success. Before the children take the books home, the tutors will read the books to and with the children and conduct follow-up activities that build comprehension and vocabulary and further the children's understanding and enjoyment of the stories. In addition, this grant allows ACEE to acquire two full sets of the Hoopoe Books that will be used in two after-school book clubs that will be conducted this spring—one for K-2nd graders and one for 3rd-5th graders.
Bob Rogers says he's committed to this project because he recognizes that children are more inspired to learn to read if they are given books and stories that they can learn from as well as enjoy. "The children love these stories," says Rogers, "they read about a character who faces, and then overcomes, a challenge, and this helps them learn valuable lessons on problem-solving and conflict-resolution through cooperation and communication."
Hoopoe stories are unique in that they can be understood and interpreted on many levels. Children (as well as adults) can gain new insights with repeated exposure to the stories. These stories make accessible the association of ideas and relationships between events that are not easily expressed any other way. By taking the mind down these unexplored venues, they allow the reader to better understand our complex world.
For more information on Hoopoe Books and the Share Literacy program, please see www.hoopoekids.com and www.shareliteracy.org.