Life gets stranger every day under the quarantine. I'm fortunate in many ways, the largest of which is that all of my family, near and close, is currently symptom-free. My sister in Wisconsin is expecting a baby in two weeks, and she's never far from my mind. My two children are back living at home. My son does his job remotely from a desk in our living room; he normally lives in Chicago. My daughter is completing her senior year of college online from her childhood bedroom; she's normally in Philadelphia. My husband's ophthalmic surgery center is closed; he and his partners are restricted to seeing emergency patients.
I'm writing, after a fashion. I've got books to review and research to complete.
Tuesday, I spent the entire day sorting, packing and shipping 22 boxes of books to teachers enrolled in ALI.
The schools are closed everywhere. Think about what that means for the low-income children we serve. Sixty-one percent of low-income kids don't have any age-appropriate books in their homes. Their school and classroom libraries aren't currently accessible to them. Public libraries, even if normally within reach, are closed. The rural areas we serve don't typically have bookstores, and if they did, they'd be closed too--and none of these families, in a time of financial uncertainty, are going to be buying books from Amazon.
There's distance learning, of course. They're trying to implement it in Bristol. A lot of the kids don't have wifi or devices to access the internet. That's true everywhere Appalachian Literacy Initiative serves. It's also true that for most of the kids we serve, two of their meals each day were provided by their school. (In three of Bristol's elementary schools, over 98% of the students get free breakfast and lunch.)
Happily these students have amazing teachers who recognize the obstacles they face. As soon as the schools closed down, teachers and school systems started figuring out ways to get food to the children who depended on it. Then they tackled the problems of learning remotely. ALI is in five states this year, and the solutions each school has come up with vary. I spent a fair amount of time in the last few weeks contacting all the teachers enrolled in our program, figuring out ways to get the books to their kids. In some cases we're still working on it. In others, I sent books to the school, where they'll be given out with lunch. In still others I sent to the teachers at their homes--the teachers are making arrangements to deliver them.
Here's what some of the teachers had to say:
"I could make a Google survey so my kids could choose their books. I will call those who don't have internet. I don't have access to my classroom at this time... If you ship the books to me I will try to deliver them out to the kids." (Bulls Gap, TN)
"We are delivering student work by bus. This will be a great surprise for them in their folders." (Elk Park, NC)
"Our school is providing breakfast and lunch 2 days per week. I am seeing several though that. We also have a bus we are taking food, books, packets, and school supplies to our families who don't have transportation to our school. I could distribute the books in the third order to families pretty easily." (Fall Branch, TN)
"I can definitely get the books to my students, but you will have to ship them to my home address instead of our school." (Charleston, WV)
"This program has built so much enthusiasm and excitement for my students about reading. Thank you so much for providing such a wonderful thing for our class." (Limestone, TN)
I continue to be acutely aware of the trust the people who've donated to ALI put in me and in the program Tracy and I built. When I look at the boxes of books I see the work it took to create the money that bought them. I also see the good the books are doing in the lives of the children who receive them.
"Hey," one boy said to another, as they were walking out of one of our free-book fairs this year, "let's get together after school, and read."
They can't get together. But thanks to their teachers, and to all the supporters of ALI, they have books at home to read.
I'm writing, after a fashion. I've got books to review and research to complete.
Tuesday, I spent the entire day sorting, packing and shipping 22 boxes of books to teachers enrolled in ALI.
The schools are closed everywhere. Think about what that means for the low-income children we serve. Sixty-one percent of low-income kids don't have any age-appropriate books in their homes. Their school and classroom libraries aren't currently accessible to them. Public libraries, even if normally within reach, are closed. The rural areas we serve don't typically have bookstores, and if they did, they'd be closed too--and none of these families, in a time of financial uncertainty, are going to be buying books from Amazon.
There's distance learning, of course. They're trying to implement it in Bristol. A lot of the kids don't have wifi or devices to access the internet. That's true everywhere Appalachian Literacy Initiative serves. It's also true that for most of the kids we serve, two of their meals each day were provided by their school. (In three of Bristol's elementary schools, over 98% of the students get free breakfast and lunch.)
Happily these students have amazing teachers who recognize the obstacles they face. As soon as the schools closed down, teachers and school systems started figuring out ways to get food to the children who depended on it. Then they tackled the problems of learning remotely. ALI is in five states this year, and the solutions each school has come up with vary. I spent a fair amount of time in the last few weeks contacting all the teachers enrolled in our program, figuring out ways to get the books to their kids. In some cases we're still working on it. In others, I sent books to the school, where they'll be given out with lunch. In still others I sent to the teachers at their homes--the teachers are making arrangements to deliver them.
Here's what some of the teachers had to say:
"I could make a Google survey so my kids could choose their books. I will call those who don't have internet. I don't have access to my classroom at this time... If you ship the books to me I will try to deliver them out to the kids." (Bulls Gap, TN)
"We are delivering student work by bus. This will be a great surprise for them in their folders." (Elk Park, NC)
"Our school is providing breakfast and lunch 2 days per week. I am seeing several though that. We also have a bus we are taking food, books, packets, and school supplies to our families who don't have transportation to our school. I could distribute the books in the third order to families pretty easily." (Fall Branch, TN)
"I can definitely get the books to my students, but you will have to ship them to my home address instead of our school." (Charleston, WV)
"This program has built so much enthusiasm and excitement for my students about reading. Thank you so much for providing such a wonderful thing for our class." (Limestone, TN)
I continue to be acutely aware of the trust the people who've donated to ALI put in me and in the program Tracy and I built. When I look at the boxes of books I see the work it took to create the money that bought them. I also see the good the books are doing in the lives of the children who receive them.
"Hey," one boy said to another, as they were walking out of one of our free-book fairs this year, "let's get together after school, and read."
They can't get together. But thanks to their teachers, and to all the supporters of ALI, they have books at home to read.
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