Rotary District 6920

‘Imagine the Possibilities’ [that]
Partnership Offers Pre-schoolers

The following is an open letter from Shauna von Hanstein, executive director of the Ferst Foundation, regarding the district’s partnership with her organization

What an honor to be invited to attend and speak at your Rotary Foundation Seminar in Vidalia last weekend! I would like to express my gratitude to District Governor Dallas Simon and extend my heartfelt appreciation to each of the Rotarians present at the weekend seminar for their outstanding southern hospitality.

As a fellow Rotarian, as well as the Executive Director of the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy, I am quick to Imagine the Possibilities that our partnership will create for the pre-school age children in Rotary District 6920! The Rotary theme for the year Service Above Self has obviously been taken to heart and will clearly be demonstrated through local club participation in this year’s Literacy/ Economic Development Project!

The program is very simple and the best part is that the Ferst Foundation is dedicated to supporting your local effort by providing the administrative tasks of data entry, newsletter creation, book ordering and the book mailing at no extra cost! All we need your club to do is help organize the local Community Action Team (CAT). The leadership for this team could be within your club and include extended committees with other clubs or private individuals within your county. Typical CATs include representation. from local elected officials, business leaders, public library management, the local US Post Office, literacy groups, school systems and other service-minded individuals – in other words, your current or future Rotarians!

Through this partnership we have a unique opportunity to invest in the education of young Georgians in a way that will have a huge impact in the years to come. Key benefits include:

The Ferst Foundation Program eliminates the key reason why parents do not read to their child - lack of quality books available in the home.
It is the only program in Georgia that provides continual, monthly distribution of books for the critical first five years of a child’s life.
It develops the habit of parent and child interaction that continues throughout the educational career of the child.

Since delivering its first book to a Georgia child in 2000, the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy program has produced impressive results. The Morgan County School System has seen scores on their kindergarten readiness tests increase from 46% ready to 90% ready! Further, Dr. Patricia Stokes, Superintendent of Morgan County Schools, also reports that they have seen their goal of 90% reading on grade level at the end of grade 3 come to pass in grade 2 indicating that the there is no doubt that the books from Ferst Foundation was the most influential factor. Imagine the Possibilities for your community!!!

Let’s make this happen for your preschool age children - please contact me today and we can establish a date for a meeting in your town with potential CAT members in your area!

Shauna von Hanstein (706) 343-0177

shauna@ferstfoundation.com