In The Press
Gala Photos – November 17, 2016
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Patriots Tight End and Children’s Book Author Martellus Bennett Reads to Students at Tobin School – November 16, 2016
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Ky A. Lindberg
Ky’s diversified professional experience in education, nonprofit management and communications provides a welcomed addition to Read to a Childs’ Detroit efforts. The 10 -year industry veteran has an exceptional capacity for building strategic partnerships and has directed marketing strategies and overseen brand development initiatives, consumer and field marketing activities, advertising and public relations. Her keen market knowledge has translated into her ability to produce substantial business development results building organizations from the ground up and increasing existing organizations market power. Ky’s relationships with the local, state and federal government as well as a multitude of educational, nonprofit and community leaders allow her to leverage resources that can expand our organizational reach and leverage resources. She is very passionate about education and is committed to identifying ways to reduce the achievement gap in urban communities. Her favorite book is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and is excited to share her joy of reading with children in the Metro Detroit area.
Video
Grinch Stole Xmas from Dan Sturman on Vimeo.
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Reading Adventures with Jonathan
By: Karen Kelley, CDMSmith employee and dedicated Read to a Child volunteer for seven years
CDM Smith has been participating in Read to a Child’s lunchtime reading program for eight years through our CDM Smith Cares program. Read to a Child pairs volunteer reading mentors from the business world with elementary school students to promote reading and literacy skills. Mentors and students read together over the child’s lunchtime for an hour each week. This is a really great opportunity for our employees to make the time to volunteer in the community, even though we have highly committed schedules outside of work. It is also possible to “share” a student so that the time commitment is only twice a month.
As a water resources engineer and a seven-year volunteer with this program, I can tell you that it is sometimes difficult to get away for an hour at lunch, but it’s always a good break and provides lots of inspiration when returning to work in the afternoon. The kids love the one-on-one interaction with their mentors. One of my students, Jonathan, an immigrant from Haiti with a past full of trauma from the earthquake in his homeland, was at first very timid and shy. But by the end of his first year in the program, he would get so intensely involved in the books that he practically ended up sitting in my lap. Over the next two years, he developed a growing fascination with animals, especially dinosaurs, which he would draw for me with life-like expressions while we read together. Plant-eaters were generally smiling, while the carnivores were fierce. We talked about what he would “be” when he grew up, and he said he wanted to become an illustrator. I tried to introduce fiction, but Jonathan was uninterested. All he wanted to know was facts about animals. One day, he wanted to read about spiders, so we asked the librarian for help in locating a book on them, but we soon found they were “too scary,” and we went back to reading about dinosaurs.
Jonathan challenged me with his questions about extinction and dinosaur bones, no doubt trying to understand some of the recent events in his own tumultuous life. At the end of our third year together, despite starting the program with a very limited English vocabulary, he had come so far in building his reading skills that he could pronounce all of the dinosaur names for me, even the newly discovered ones that I had never heard of, and he could tell me all about their eating habits and physical characteristics. Some dinosaurs had feathers! When I presented him with a wrapped book at the end of the program in the spring, I was amused when he wondered out loud what it would be about. He clutched the book to his chest in happiness and immediately started reading when he discovered it was – what else? – a children’s illustrated encyclopedia of dinosaurs.
When I look back at our time together, I realize he taught me every bit as much as I taught him. Participating makes me feel great about being a CDM Smith employee.
Newsletters
Press Releases
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu Reads to First Grade Students at the Mildred Ave K-8 School on last day of National Reading Month
Event highlights Read to a Child’s kickoff of its fifth BPS partnership BOSTON – Friday, March 31, 2023 – Mayor Michelle Wu today joined Boston Public Schools and national non-profit…
Read more ...For Immediate Release Goal of $100,000 will Support Those Most Affected by Pandemic Learning Lossthrough 3,000 One-on-One Reading Sessions with Caring Adults Nationwide WELLESLEY, MA, March 1, 2023 – National…
Read more ...National Non-Profit, Read to a Child®, Adds David Walker and Richard Wasserman to its Board of Directors
For Immediate Release Mr. Walker and Mr. Wasserman, existing chairs of regional advisory boards and individual volunteer reading mentors, add financial, legal and regional expertise Wellesley, MA, November 14, 2022…
Read more ...Read to a Child® announces new Remote Read Aloud Program video series with Support from the Guru Krupa Foundation
Wellesley, MA, July 26, 2021 – National literacy and mentoring non-profit Read to a Child® today announced a new summer series of videos in its Remote Read Aloud Program, beginning…
Read more ...Read to a Child® announces its Remote Read Aloud Program and a new interactive Zoom session now on YouTube
Aerospace Systems Engineer Tracy Drain reads “Hidden Figures” and has lively interaction via Zoom with 4th Grade Class at Esperanza Elementary School in Los Angeles Wellesley, MA, June 25, 2020…
Read more ...Read to a Child to Feature Suki Lopez from Sesame Street at Magic of Reading Event in January in Coral Gables
For Immediate Release Miami, FL, December 18, 2019 – National literacy and mentoring non-profit, Read to a Child®, announced today that it will be hosting its annual Magic of Reading…
Read more ...National Non-Profit, Read to a Child®, Selects Gloria Jolley as Greater Los Angeles Director
For Immediate Release Ms. Jolley to grow support, stakeholders and operations in Greater Los Angeles to serve more students in acclaimed Lunchtime Reading Program Los Angeles, December 10, 2019 –…
Read more ...Tomorrow (Tuesday October 8th) is National Read to a Child Day – and Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley will team up with his former University of Georgia teammate, Super Bowl Champion Malcolm Mitchell to read aloud to nearly 500 students at the Peter Burnett Elementary School in Hawthorne, CA.
Read more ...National literacy and mentoring non-profit Read to a Child® today announced that Tuesday, October 8 is National Read to a Child Day. This day marks a national movement to raise awareness of the literacy crisis among low-income populations in the United States, as well as the immense value of providing books and reading aloud in the quest to improve literacy rates and to empower under-served children.
Read more ...National Non-Profit, Read to a Child®, Selects Lily Samuels as its next Greater Hartford Regional Director
For Immediate Release Ms. Samuels to grow support, stakeholders and operations in Greater Hartford to serve more students in acclaimed reading programs Hartford, CT, September 9, 2019 – National literacy…
Read more ...