SMART partners with hundreds of schools statewide to deliver proven literacy support to K-3 children. Participating children also receive new books each month to keep and read with their families. Our vision is an Oregon where every child can read and is empowered to succeed.
It's here! We are proud to introduce the ninth annual SMART Book Award winner.
"Hello."
INSPIRING BY EXAMPLE
If you peek into a SMART reading session, you may see volunteers and kids making all kinds of faces.
Every week for seven months, our volunteer readers spend an hour reading with two kids for 30 minutes each. We make sound effects, funny faces, and use all sorts of strange voices—all in an effort to inspire kids to love to read.
Take Sam (whose named has been changed). He moved to Portland from Romania at the start of the school year and understood very little English. He began participating in SMART in March. Thanks to the enthusiasm of his volunteer, who unabashedly made animal sounds and found creative ways to help him learn the names of animals in the book The Mitten, he has made great progress in his reading development after just a short time in the program. When it came time to choose a book to keep, he jumped at the chance to take home The Mitten, which he carried with great pride back to his classroom.
As the year progresses, the bond between student and volunteer grows. Weekly, one-on-one attention from a caring adult allows the child to gain confidence in his or her reading abilities. The child carries that confidence beyond SMART and into the classroom. Studies show that SMART students are 60% more likely to reach state reading benchmarks.
Talk to someone about SMART it’s likely they volunteer, or know someone who does. As volunteer readers, we face similar challenges with struggling readers, and similar triumphs when they overcome those challenges.
To the 9,000 volunteer readers throughout Oregon, thank you for all you do in support of children's literacy.
Together, we are building brighter futures for Oregonians big and small.
Want to volunteer for the 2008-09 school year? Sign up today!
-- Posted 1 May 2008
HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE OUR VISION?
SMART serves an average of 10,000 children annually, but we estimate that more than 50,000 could benefit from our services. Today we announce that SMART is restructuring in order to reach its vision of an Oregon where every child can read and is empowered to succeed. Read the press release.
-- Posted 4 April 2008
TWO NEW BOARD MEMBERS JOIN THE SMART TEAM
Our two newest board members have already begun reaching out to the community in support of early literacy and SMART:
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Tom Gilbertson is senior vice president with RBC Dain Rauscher.
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Kent Lewis is president of Anvil Media, Inc., a search engine marketing agency based in Portland.
Read the PRESS RELEASE to hear why they believe early literacy is vital to the success of our state.
-- Posted 17 January 2008
BOOK FAIR & BREAKFAST EARNS $3,000
More than 425 people supported SMART through the purchase of books at the Scholastic Book Fair and breakfast hosted by the Do Good Gang, a youth volunteer organization in Klamath Falls. The first-time event over the holidays raised an amazing $3,000 to help SMART provide books and weekly one-on-one reading support to children in Klamath County.
-- Posted 17 January 2008