The Temecula Sunrise Rotary Club sponsors a literacy program for third-graders at Temecula Elementary School to recognize those who have achieved a high level of understanding in the material they read. 

2010 will be our fifth year sponsoring this reading incentive program for these third grade students.  The competition creates an incentive for students to read more books and to improve their reading comprehension skills.  The children compete to accumulate the most points on their reading comprehension quizzes, and the top point earners receive a reward of $11 each to spend on classroom book orders, plus recognition at an end-of-year award party.  Each child receives a certificate from the school and a trophy from Temecula Sunrise Rotary Club.
     

Temecula Sunrise Rotary was the proud recipient of a certificate signed by all the winners of the 2007-2008 School year Literacy Program.  Here are a few of the Rotarians that were at the Awards Ceremony, June 2008:  Roger Weber, Vicki Nye (Teacher), Mona Davies, Scott Goverman (Chairman), Diana Camba, and Dave Skinner.  Every year the children write letters to the club thanking us for the books and the trophies.

Rotary's literacy program meets with success

By: JENNIFER KABBANY -Staff Writer for The Californian Monday, June 18, 2007

TEMECULA -- Scott Goverman is a realist. He knows that if you want to get kids to read a bunch of books, it helps to gives them a little incentive.

So when Goverman was tapped as the Temecula Sunrise Rotary's literacy committee chairman, he set out to "do something different," he said. Tossing aside one of the more typical approaches to literacy efforts -- buying dictionaries for students -- he instead set up a contest of sorts.

The Rotary program rewards third-graders who perform well on reading comprehension quizzes conducted at their school by buying them books to keep as well as for their classrooms.

Established in the spring of 2006 at Temecula Elementary School, which has a large number of students from low-income families, the program recently completed another successful year, teachers said.

"The point is to give kids an incentive, to get them some recognition for winning," Goverman said, adding that the club has spent a total of $2,000 to make the program work. "I thought it would make sense to target a school where the students might need the help more than other schools."

Teacher Vicki Nye said the program has helped students sharpen their literacy skills.

"The kids really got into their books," she said.

What's more, the program has helped several students who were not interested in reading turn their attitudes around as they tried to earn prizes, she said.

"They really started taking it seriously," Nye said.

Students said the program helped them want to read more.

"I started reading a lot of books," said 9-year-old Karina Torres. "The teachers were looking (to reward) people who were on task instead of just playing with their friends."

At a party to celebrate the winners, about 90 of the top student readers throughout the school year were each given a trophy in an emotional ceremony attended by their families, Goverman said.

"There were more adults than kids at this party," he said. "The kids were so proud. I don't think the kids were accustomed to winning anything. I was trying to get them to shake my hand, but they kept going right for the trophy."

The trophies were about a foot tall with green and gold trim.

Marti Treckman, secretary of the Rotary Club, said the ceremony touched her heart.

"They are just so sweet," she said of the students. "One of our members who was there got a quick shot of a little girl who grabbed her trophy and had the most wonderful look of awe on her face that she would be recognized for doing this."

In return, the students wrote thank you letters to the Rotary club members.

Goverman said the program's success has encouraged him to try to expand the program.

"Now we have done it two years and it's a successful program and the kids really like it," he said. "What I am hoping to explore is expanding the program to some other Title I elementaries if we have the funding or if we can get the matching funding."