Return-Path: <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id gAQGQKX25190; Tue, 26 Nov 2002 11:26:20 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2002 11:26:20 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <NCBBKFFJMKFIFAGAFGNEKEGCDFAA.jlee@famlit.org> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Jon Lee" <jlee@famlit.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:1338] FW: Dallas Morning News X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2911.0) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 6076 Lines: 128 Literacy fund-raiser to bring together parents, celebrities, love of books 11/25/2002 By KAREN M. THOMAS / The Dallas Morning News Former first lady Barbara Bush and Rocio Garcia, a Plano mother of three, have never met, but they share a common passion. Both love to read. That passion will bring them together Monday evening at Dallas' First Celebration of Reading, hosted by former President George Bush and Mrs. Bush at the Wyndham Anatole Hotel. "[We want] to make it a pleasant evening while stressing and making people aware of the fact that a lot of people in America can't read well enough to cope. They can't get jobs. And they don't have the dignity and the joy of reading," says Mrs. Bush, a longtime champion for family literacy. The sold-out event is a fund-raiser for the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and the Barbara Bush Texas Fund for Family Literacy. Similar events are held in Florida and Houston. President George W. Bush and Laura Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and Lynne Cheney are honorary hosts. "Basically we believe that the home is the child's first school and the parent is the child's first and most important teacher. Reading is a child's first subject," says Benita Somerfield, executive director of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. "But what if the parent can't read? Family-literacy programs are ones where there is instruction for the parent or primary caregiver and pre-literacy skills for preschool kids. Then there is time for the parent and child together ... so you have literary instruction for both generations." That is precisely what Even Start – A Circle of Learning provides for its students, says Jane Lilliston, program coordinator. The federally funded family literacy program in Plano has received funding from the Bush foundations and serves 42 families, including the Garcias. (Mrs. Garcia will speak at the event Monday night.) Ms. Lilliston said most students speak English as a second language and are trying to improve or gain literacy skills for themselves and their children. Mrs. Garcia, who grew up in a Mexican town called Zacatecas, came to the program more than two years ago. The 29-year-old mother has three children: Kevin, 8, Kimberly, 5, and Emily, who is nearly 2. Her town, she says, had no library and few books. And yet her love of reading blossomed. "I read schoolbooks or the Bible. I felt anxious to read more and more and more," she says. She also became anxious to help her children. When Kevin started school, she couldn't speak or read English, so she couldn't help him with his homework. She couldn't talk to his teachers. She couldn't read stories in English to her two younger daughters. Now that has all changed. "Last year she earned her GED," says Ms. Lilliston. "A lot of people took the test in Spanish. She took it in English. That is a testament to how hard she tries." Mrs. Garcia says that she has noticed changes in her children as well. "Kevin is so shy. He's so smart, but he doesn't like to talk too much and now he's changed," she says. "He's getting good grades in school. And he's learning many things here that help him open up to the world." Those things, she says, include social skills along with his academic achievements. She's seen Kimberly's development grow, too. The 5-year-old started kindergarten this year. Last year, Mrs. Garcia enrolled Kimberly in a preschool program in the Plano Independent School District. Mrs. Garcia read to her at home. "She is able to follow rules and to learn. She was prepared," Mrs. Garcia says about her daughter's school start. Her youngest child, Emily, now almost 2, will have a similar start. "I am feeling much more comfortable now," Mrs. Garcia says. "Now I feel I can, in the future, find better work. I can go to college if I want." When Mrs. Garcia meets Mrs. Bush Monday night, it's likely the pair will compare notes on their voracious reading habits and their parental worries. Mrs. Bush says she tends to read lighter fare, novels that help keep her from fretting about her children. "I find that I am filled with anxiety now that my children are all grown up," she says. "Every time it rains and floods in Florida, I say they're going to blame (Florida Gov.) Jeb (Bush). And when anything happens in the country, I hope they know that George is doing the best job that he can. I never thought I would be that kind of mother but I am. So reading, for me, is to relax." The program Monday night will feature readings by authors Fannie Flagg, John Grisham and James McBride. Hugh Ambrose will read for his father, the late historian Stephen Ambrose. There are surprise guests and a reading by Former President Bush. Current President Bush and the first lady, though, are in Europe and will be unable to attend. Laura Bush has also championed literacy. In the past two years, the events have raised more than $2.2 million. Both the foundation and the fund have awarded more than $11 million to 354 family literacy programs in 44 states. Mrs. Bush says she brought the event to Dallas this year after being urged by a contingent of Dallas and Fort Worth supporters who have annually trekked to Houston. "We are very excited about it," she says. But as any Dallasite will tell you, Dallas isn't Houston. So Dallas' celebration couldn't be a carbon copy of Houston. "Dallas will look like Dallas and Houston will look like Houston," says Ms. Somerfield. And how does Dallas differ? It's the little differences that count, says Ms. Somerfield. For the past eight years in Houston, a dessert concoction has served as table centerpieces. Here, in the Big D, that simply won't do. "We were told on no uncertain terms that dessert is not a centerpiece," says Ms. Somerfield. "There should be flowers and dessert should come with coffee and that's the way it should be." E-mail kthomas@dallasnews.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/texasliving/stories/112502dnlivbush.189a3.html
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