Hubby Mike introduced his wife, Tiffany who is a Special Education teacher and Kathy Sielsky who is the Reading Specialist at Michener Elementary School as they kick off yet another year there of Fluency Friends – a project headed up again this year by past prez, Mary Murray.
 
Tiffany stepped forward first and gave a recap of last year’s successful program. She said that when the program was first launched there were two only volunteers but thanks to our club, the program was a huge success last year. Most all of Michener’s students with the exception of just a few families live below the poverty line. Many of the students come from homes whose parents don’t speak English fluently nor do they speak the language fluently. Many of Michener’s students start school without knowing the alphabet nor numbers.
 
Tiffany proudly reported that last year there were 21 Rotary volunteers who served 51 of Michener’s students from kindergarten through 4th grade. Those volunteers contributed 172 hours of classroom reading. Students, she said, take a standardized computerized test in the Fall, Winter and Spring and each year they are expected to make a year’s worth of growth regardless of where they start. An astonishing 78% of the students that the Rotary volunteers worked with last year, Tiffany said, made that growth or more!!
 
In addition to that assistance, Tiffany said that she and staff noticed the relationships developing between the children and the Rotarians. The children, she said, would ask when the volunteers were coming! Tiffany acknowledged the gift the club gave them in the form of books paid for by a grant we’d received and said that each child at the end of the program were able to take two books home at the close of the program. The others are now part of Michener’s Fluency Friends library and “our children really need them”, she said.
 
Kathy then spoke to the audience and mentioned how happy she was that many of last year’s volunteers were returning this year! She explained the Fluency Friends process to those who might want to get involved for the first time this year. It requires only one half hour of a volunteer’s time each week during the school year. Volunteers meet with the same child each week which is so important in developing the right kind of relationship, get to know their reading ability, and let them read to you each week. Anyone who has more time they could give are encouraged to do so.
 
Kathy asked new and returning volunteers to mark their calendars for the Fluency Friends Open House on Tuesday, October 20th at 6pm at Michener to go over sign-in procedures, instructions on helping students with their reading skills, etc. New volunteers, she said, will receive individual training. A new classroom at Michener has been designated as a FF reading room where volunteers will go to each time to read with their respective student. Fluency Friends will official start the week of October 26th. She said that volunteers can tell her what days/times are best for each volunteer. They are very flexible. She said that volunteers can even request the same student they had last year but that it wasn’t necessary.
 
Dane Nelson said that as long as he’s been a member of this club, Fluency Friends is THE best program he’s ever been involved in.
In closing, Kathy said that unfortunately, the mobility rate among students is 55% which means that 55% of Michener’s students are not there two years in a row.
Thanks to Tiffany and Kathy for another opportunity for Adrian Noon Rotarians to impact other peoples’ lives!