DeKalb County Drug Court Foundation 2012 Decatur Rotary Community Grant The Literacy Project

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1 DeKalb County Drug Court Foundation 2012 Decatur Rotary Community Grant The Literacy Project

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3 J U L Y & A U G U S T Meetings at Little Shop of Stories July/August A special thank you to Little Shop of Stories, Avondale Pizza Cafe and the Bakery at Cakes and Ale for hosting/supplying refreshments for these meetings Our first meeting took place in June at the DeKalb County Courthouse and was open to middle and high school aged children of drug court participants. It was set up as a focus group where the children could discuss their interests and provide feedback in an anonymous survey. For the most part the participants attitudes were indifferent about reading but overwhelming admitted that they do not read outside of school and that their normally read an abbreviated version of a book (ex: cliff/spark notes) for school assignments. After our discussion they were given several books, including a variety of genres to choose from. They decided on the psychological thriller LIAR by Justine Larbalestier, which has been the recipient of numerous awards including a best of by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).

4 S T M B R We partnered with Little Shop of Stories, our neighbor here in Downtown Decatur on a number of events. They were gracious enough to take us in hosting our meetings several times. After learning about their On the Same Page initiative, we could help but join in on all the fun. Because of the book chosen for 2012 we decided to open up the age range to include children eight years old and up. The festivities began at the AJC Decatur Book Festival, Labor Day weekend. While a number of our participants have lived their entire lives just a few miles down the road, none of them had ever attended this festival or any of the festivals held on the Decatur Square throughout the year. It was exciting to see the children so enthused about reading and all the activities that we had planned for them in the coming months.

5 O C T O B R As part of the On the Same Page program with Little Shop of Stories, a few of our book club participants came out one Saturday and helped out with a Habitat for Humanity event in the Belvedere community. Since the book Holes was about digging holes that s what we did. Along with a number of other community members we landscaped the home of a disabled senior adding grass, flowers and shrubs. The children had such a great time that they asked about joining in on future Habitat events on their own.

6 We began to notice that the children came out of their shell more during events. At this point we decided to change our approach from a traditional sit down book club to one that was more interactive and explorative. Several of the drug court participants were volunteering over at the Academy Theatre in Avondale for their Harvest Festival and we decided to join in one Saturday on all the fun. The theatre hosted our book club on their outside patio before the start of the festival where we enjoyed cream sodas and pizza while discussing our book. We then were able to enjoy the Haunted House production courtesy of the theatre.

7 N O V M B R One of the most exciting events of the year was the Holes party at Little Shop. We really got to see the kids excitement about the project and since members of the Decatur Rotary were there (including our own Judge Cynthia Becker), they got to see it too. The best part was hearing them all call out the answers to the trivia questions, after that we knew without a doubt that they had read the book! The Holes party also gave the members a chance to look around the store and see what other types of books peaked their interest in order to make their next book selection an individual choice for the holiday break.

8 D C M B R Meet and Greet with Louis Sachar at Agnes Scott Journal topic: The onion metaphor for explaining how people can be. What are the similarities? A few of the individual book selections The final event for On the Same Page was an event at Agnes Scott where Holes author Louis Sachar attended. Individual book selections were distributed during the holiday break and the choices were just as unique and distinctive as the participants themselves. We were also able to purchase a few books for the parents of our participants to read to their children, even the littlest ones.

9 MLK Day of Service with the City of Decatur All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence. -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. J A N U A R Y By the beginning of 2013 it appeared that volunteering had become a theme of ours and the children loved getting outdoors. very year the drug court participants volunteer for Decatur s MLK Day of Service. This year we decided to invite a few of the book club participants to come with their parents to the event. Our group was given the opportunity to work on a yard that we helped to clean up last year and Ms. Althea couldn t have been a sweeter lady to help out. It was one of the most beautiful days in January and for more than just the great weather. After all the hard work we sat down to lunch and decided on our next book Gone, the first book in a young-adult dystopian science fiction book series written by Michael Grant. The word is that they all loved it and can t wait to read the rest!!!

10 F B R U A R Y In February the drug court put together an exhibition basketball game where a team from DKPD took on a group of drug court participants along with a few officers that work with our drug court. It was a huge success and fun for the whole family. We were able to raise funds for our non-profit that will go towards future projects. It was more than a fundraiser it was a chance to break down barriers associated with social stigmas. It was one of the biggest highlights of the year and a great family event. We got a chance to catch up with a few of our book club participants and distribute Gone for them to start reading.

11 A P R I L S P R I N G BRAVS FOUNDATION: RACH OUT, B OUR GUST M A R C H M A Y With spring we began wrapping things up for the year and started the book Jackie s Nine by Sharon Robinson it just isn t spring without baseball! The book is a fantastic collection of stories displaying the values and characteristics that Jackie Robinson (and many others) lived by. Lucky for us that Hollywood decided to make a feature film about Jackie that we could go see while we were reading the book. We were able to attend two Braves games this summer with the book club. Many thanks to the Braves Foundation: Reach Out, Be Our Guest program for supplying game tickets to our group.

12 Literacy Project Highlights 16 vents/meetings attended by Drug Court Participants and their children. Approximately 30 children participated along with their families throughout the year. Distributed 70 copies of Holes to drug court families in addition to book club participants with the help of the On The Same Page program. In Partnership with the Braves Foundation will be able to send 125 participants and families to Braves games in the coming months. Literacy Project Bookmarks and Journals (pictured above)

13 GOOD NWS TRAVLS FAST

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15 Working with the Drug Court s SRI (Social Recovery Initiative) and Family Services we will focus on exposing our at-risk youth population to art-rich experiences such as literacy, visual arts, theater, dance, museums, and music Decatur Rotary Community Grant The Whole Child

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