On March 1, 2013, the Toledo Rotary Foundation and its Club Board of Directors awarded a grant of $5,000 to expand the Claire’s Day School Visit Program to five new Toledo Public Schools.
The Claire’s Day Authors School Visit Program connects Midwestern authors and illustrators to local schools as a way to enhance the studentsʼ literary experience. These visits include entertaining, experiential, educational presentations and story telling that encourage students to use their imaginations, enjoy literature, and to pursue reading as a regular activity. Since the authors and illustrators describe their creative process and the process of publishing a childrenʼs book, students also get an understanding of how a book arrives completed in their hands. In 2012, an estimated 10,000 local students participated in authors’ visit at 19 schools.
The $5,000 grant from the Toledo Rotary Foundation will help to cover the cost of the author’s and illustrator’s honorarium for five Toledo Public Schools that have not previously participated in this program. It will also provide $195 worth of books to each school to expose the students to the authorʼs or illustrator’s books prior to the visit.
**Update 5/8/2013: The five Toledo Public Schools that are participating this year include Beverly Elementary, Keyser Elementary, Marshall Elementary, Reynolds Elementary, and Walbridge Elementary.
“We are thrilled to be able to expand the Author School Visit Program into these Toledo Public Schools for the first time,” said Claire’s Day Executive Director Heather Gallant. “Claireʼs Day was founded to inspire all children to be lifelong readers, and we couldn’t accomplish this mission without the generous financial support from community partners like the Toledo Rotary Foundation to cover the costs of such a worthwhile learning opportunity.”
The Toledo Rotary Foundation was established to support the educational and charitable efforts of the Rotary Club of Toledo. Foundation funding is made possible through the generous contributions of members of the Rotary Club of Toledo and its friends.
