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Berea Rotarian Jim Walters passes out dictionaries to third-graders at Grindstone Elementary School. Berea Rotary donates dictionaries to 3rd graders For more than 15 years, every third-grader in the Berea and Olmsted Falls School Districts has received a new dictionary courtesy of the Rotary Club of Berea. On Dec. 9, the club handed out nearly 800 paperback Webster’s dictionaries to teachers and students. Teacher LaVerne Thomas at Grindstone Elementary School in Berea said the books are very much appreciated by staff as well as the children. “For some of the children, this is the only book they own,” she said. In this age of laptops and iPads, that dictionary is still a valuable resource in classrooms, she said. “There is so much more in there than just words and definitions,” Thomas said. After Rotarian Jim Walters passed out the books to her class, Thomas asked the kids, “Now what can we learn from these dictionaries?” Back came instant answers. “The Presidents,” said one child. “Sign language,” added another. “More words,” chimed in one little girl. More words mean newer, more up-to-date terms, Thomas said. The classroom dictionaries are often out-of-date, she said. Walters asked the kids to write their names in the books plus the names of their teachers and classroom numbers – in case the books are misplaced. The children also were given plastic tote bags courtesy of Baldwin Wallace University to keep the books safe and dry if they take them home. Thomas said she has her class show their new books to parents and then return them to the classroom. She also takes photos of the students with the dictionaries and posts them on the school’s Facebook page. Walters delivered 131 dictionaries to Grindstone. Other members of the club presented books to third-graders at St. Mary School in Berea, Big Creek Elementary in Middleburg Heights, Brook Park Memorial and Brookview elementaries in Brook Park, Falls-Lenox and St. Mary of the Falls schools in Olmsted Falls. In total, Rotary passed out 768 dictionaries. Dr. Carmine Stewart is program director for Seeds of Literacy, which works to combat illiteracy in adults. Program plants ‘Seeds of Literacy’ for adults With a staff of 250 volunteers, Seeds of Literacy works to combat the number of adults in the Cleveland area who have trouble reading, writing and doing simple math. According to Dr. Carmine Stewart, program director for Seeds of Literacy, 66 percent of adults 16 and older in Cleveland are functionally illiterate. Some of them lack a high school diploma but some of them are high school graduates who need to improve their skills. Her clients range from teens to seniors, people with jobs and those seeking better jobs. “Many work, have families but they manage this with a disadvantage,” Stewart told Berea Rotarians on Dec. 10. “If given a 5th-grade test, they wouldn’t be able to make a lot of sense out of it.” Seeds of Literacy hopes to change that. The non-profit offers free one-on-one tutoring to about 1,000 clients a year at two locations. The hours are flexible depending on clients’ availability. “Education changes lives,” Stewart said. “It fights poverty and lets people manage their health care competently.” Literacy also is important to families, she said. “A mother’s level of literacy predicts the child’s literacy,” Stewart said. Stewart said the short-term goals of Seeds of Literacy are to have clients pass their GEDs, to lessen poverty, crime and unemployment. Long-term goal: “to put ourselves out of business,” she said. “We want to increase the rates of literacy so that all of Cleveland continues to revive.” Berea Rotary night at the theater Berea Rotarians spent a night at the theater on Nov. 19 to see "Kinky Boots" at Baldwin Wallace University. The performance was a fundraiser for The Education Foundation of the Berea Schools. Berea Rotary celebrates the holidays
Berea Rotarians and guests welcomed the holidays at our annual party - this year at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Middleburg Heights. We were honored to have three Past District Governors with us - Bev Skrzysnki, Dave Skrzynski and Jack Young. Yvonne Fulimeni, Ray Bartlett & Dave Skrzynski Joan Kamper & Hilary Wilson Judy Stull & Kristina Koenig Beth Milady of Strongsville Rotary & Kathy Olmeda Marsha Pappalardo of Brunswick Rotary and Beverly Ghent-Skrzynski of Cleveland Rotary |
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Kathryn Berkshire (2018-2021)
David T. Skrzynski, PDG (2019-2020)
Paul Qua (2018-2021)
Adam Sonnhalter (2018-2021)
Bruce E. DeBerry (2017-2020)
Linda Kramer (2015-2020)
Peter Tuttle (2019-2022)
Robert (Bob) Fratino (2018-2021)
Karen Bordonaro (2018-2021)
Robert (Bob) Oborn (2018-2021)
Julieann (Julie) Brandle (2019-2020)
