STILWELL,
Okla., -- What do the Stilwell Elementary School, the Reading
Is Fundamental (RIF) program, the Cherokee Nation Realty Department,
and the Cherokee Nation Early Childhood Unit have in common? Radena
Rutherford.
Rutherford,
an employee of Cherokee Nation Realty Services for more than six
years, participated in the RIF program as a first grader at the
Stilwell Elementary School and now is an active member of the Cherokee
Nation Early Childhood Unit's third annual RIF Book Selection committee.
This
committee selects books for the upcoming year that will be distributed
to children of the ECU programsHead Start, Early Head Start
and Child Care. Family and community members provide input by choosing
books that interest local classrooms and communities.
"This
type of input into the program makes it a true "Family of Readers"program,"said
Ramona Drew, RIF coordinator for ECU.
RIF-Family
of Readers is a federally funded program that began in 1966. RIF
prepares and motivates children to read by delivering free books
and literacy resources to those children and families needing them
the most.
The
RIF program fosters children's literacy by reading motivation, family
and community involvement, and providing training/resources.
As
a testament to the effectiveness of the RIF program, Rutherford
still remembers all the details of the book she was able to select
to take home through the RIF program.
"It
was the biography of Quanah Parker, in Ms. Parson's first grade
class,"Rutherford said.
For
more information about the RIF-Family of Readers program within
the Cherokee Nation Early Childhood Unit or being a guest reader
in our classrooms, please call Ramona Drew, at (918) 458-4393.
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