Reading Fun at NUSH!

Our newest after-school programs at Northwestern University Settlement House (NUSH) just finished-up and the response from the kids, volunteers, and NUSH partners (thank you Mr. Jesse!) was overwhelmingly positive!

The NUSH e-newsletter included a slideshow of the fun--that's Spinney and Sandy with a young reader. To see a slideshow of more photos, click here.

Many thanks to our friends at Bears Care for bringing SitStayRead and NUSH together to help students read! We look forward to returning in spring for another session.

Dogs for da Bears!

Bears fans all across Chicago are excited about today's big game and that includes our dogs! Sure, they're loyal to the hometown team but our dogs also know that Bears Care is a BIG supporter of kids in Chicago and especially SitStayRead.

Check-out these photos of the Bears with SitStayRead through the years and then email us (info@sitstayread.org) photos showing how your dogs show their Bears team spirit. We'll add them to the album for all to see. (Click on photo for larger version.)

GO BEARS!!

Bears Care Helps Kids Learn to Read!

What a great weekend! Last Saturday, winning volunteers and teachers watched the Chicago Bears play at Soldier Field. What could be even better than winning tickets to the Bears game? Being ON the field!

SitStayRead co-founders, Sarah Murphy and MaryEllen Schneider, were presented a GIANT CHECK by Caroline Schrenker (left) and Marge Hamm (right) on the field before Saturday's kickoff. Many thanks to Bears Care for awarding SitStayRead this generous grant of $25,000! Just think how many kids will learn to read with the HUGE SUPPORT from Bears Care. That's a touchdown win in our book!

Bears Winners

We're happy to report the winners of the tickets to Saturday's Chicago Bears game are:

David Groves, teacher

Carly Loosevelt, volunteer

And we're even happier to announce that our great friends at Bears Care donated additional tickets so we have additional winners--YEAH!!

Also receiving tickets are:

Betsy Lane, volunteer

Joe Pryst, volunteer

Beth Finke, volunteer Guest Reader (along with her seeing eye dog, Hanni--be sure to check-out their blog)

Reading Rewards Underway!

The Reading Rewards celebrations are underway and, as you can see, the kids are soooo thrilled!!!

We're still up to our eyeballs here in the Sit Stay Read office wrapping-up the school year but you can count on seeing more photos of the on-going RR celebration excitement soon.

New this year, were surprise special guests at the celebrations. Here's a photo of our Hendricks Academy top reader, Rayshawn (62 books read!) with George McCaskey, one of the owners of the Chicago Bears (and a great SSR supporter through Bears Care), and fire fighter Joe Pryst.

Many thanks to everyone who makes these celebrations possible--our generous donors, fabulous volunteers (two- and four-legged), and special guests. As teacher David Groves put it, “Sit Stay Read is so exciting for the kids and sends a powerful message that the community is excited about their accomplishments and is invested in their continued academic success!”

It's not too late to lend a hand--please donate today!

Spooky Pooch Was a Blast

Pooch Parade 2009

Sarah Scott and her team, Debbie, Stacy, Sarah, and, of course, Milo and Lulu had a great time talking with folks at the Botanic Gardens' first Spooky Pooch parade on Halloween.

The costumes were a riot and everyone had a smile on their face. I think we have a new Halloween tradition! Click on the photo to see the full album. You won't believe the creativity.

Our Football Friends--The Chicago Bears!

Was there a lot of hooting and hollering at your house last night for that great Bears game? We were so excited to see offensive lineman Josh Beekman again.

Josh was the favorite Sit Stay Read Guest Reader at Lowell School last year. That's Josh having a heart to heart with SSR dog, Oscar, a greyhound. (Click on the Chicago Bears label below to see more photos from Josh's classroom visit.)

Go Bears! Go Josh! Looking forward to a great season.

Laverne Pays a Visit

Laverne was tuckered out the day she visited the office. She'd been cross country skiing down at the lake front in the morning and was in need of a nap.

The second photo shows her on a perkier day. She's giving Bears player Joshua Beekman a kiss hello before they head into a Sit Stay Read program at Lowell School last fall.

Chicago Bears Visit Sit Stay Read

It was an exciting day for the kids and dog teams at Lowell School today when Chicago Bears rookie lineman, Joshua Beekman, visited the program.

That's Josh with Sit Stay Read dog, Lucy, as he gets ready to head into the school to read the book, "Corduroy" to the second graders. The kids loved hearing about how Josh's mom used to read him the book about a little stuffed bear who's missing a button on his overalls and is looking for a real home of his own.

Josh visited three classrooms and at the end of each visit the kids clamored for his autograph and didn't want to let him go.

We're grateful to Bears Care for their generosity in arranging for this very special visit and for their support, which makes Sit Stay Read programs possible. Josh is a wonderful role model and he did a great job of letting the students know the importance of reading and getting an education