News

Kalihi Elementary’s Musical Welcome

Miss Molly’s Grade 3 students at Kalihi Elementary welcomed RIF volunteers with an unexpected musical performance during this month’s school visit!  It was a lovely way to start the morning, capped by the excitement of selecting their own books, plus a *bonus* book picked with their eyes closed.

Sunny Smiles at Maili :)

There were lots of smiling faces at our sixteen schools as we wrapped up our book distributions for the winter. All of our preschool through third grade students took home a new book to read.  The variety of books available resulted in children taking their time to peruse the selection before they chose the book they wanted for themselves. The students are already happily anticipating selecting their final books for the  school year in April and May. 

RIF National CEO Visits Oahu

RIF President and CEO Alicia Levi was on the road this fall, visiting RIF program sites across the county. In September, Alicia was on Oahu to learn about our program and to share RIF’s vision and plan for the next five years.

Alicia accompanied Board members Susan Fuller and Janis Rodden to Kamaile Academy to observe our version of RIF’s Books for Ownership program. They visited several classrooms where our volunteers were reading aloud to students, and experienced the excitement when it was time for each child to select a brand new book of their very own.

Alicia commented, “The RIF services you provide are hugely impactful to the students you serve and it was extremely rewarding and informative for me to be able to visit the schools with your dedicated group of volunteers. The model your team has put in place to run RIF programming is one that I will reflect on often as we work at RIF National to continue to provide support and resources for sites such as yours.”

Mahalo, ‘Iwalani Hodges!

A big mahalo to ‘Iwalani Hodges, librarian at Nanaikapono Elementary School, who is retiring at the end of this school year.

For 28 years, ‘Iwalani has served both as school librarian and as on-site coordinator for the RIF-Honolulu program. In addition to the usual coordinator duties for the RIF school visits and book distributions, which include scheduling and communicating with teachers, ‘Iwalani made sure that our volunteers knew that they were appreciated with a sumptuous repast at every visit.

The students at Nanaikapono will miss her, and so will the RIF volunteers who have come to know her over the years.

‘Iwalani, we appreciate all that you have done to support the RIF program and volunteers at Nanaikapono, and we wish you all the best as you begin this new chapter in life. 

Mahalo and Aloha from all of us at RIF-Honolulu!

We ❤️ books! We ❤️ reading!

2017_Feb 1

It’s February and we’re sharing our love of books and reading with our RIF keiki!

We are midway through our winter book distribution. In addition to providing books to the kindergarten through third-grade students, our second and third-graders are also choosing an extra bonus book!

“There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favorite book.” —Marcel Proust

Ringing in the new year…Reading in the new year!

2017_Jan

At the beginning of 2017, our dedicated crew of RIF volunteers are busy unpacking the towering boxes of newly-arrived books. We are eagerly anticipating distributing all these books to our RIF keiki! We will be visiting our RIF schools from January 17 to February 22.

Here’s wishing everyone a happy new year full of great books!

The Gift of Reading

What an ideal time of year to remember just how special the gift of reading is!

To close 2016, here are a few thoughts about the wonder of books and reading.  Enjoy!!

“A book is a gift you can open again and again.” – Garrison Keillor

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” – Stephen King

“So many books, so little time.” – Frank Zappa

“A book is a dream you hold in your hand.” – Neil Gaiman

“You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book.” – Dr. Seuss

“I cannot live without books.”  – Thomas Jefferson

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”  – Groucho Marx

“One of the greatest gifts adults can give – to their offspring and to their society – is to read to children.”  – Carl Sagan

“A book is a device to ignite the imagination.” – Alan Bennett

“Turn the pages of your imagination…READ!” – Author unknown

“The greatest gift of all is a passion for reading.” – Elizabeth Hardwick

RIF-Honolulu wishes you holidays filled with joy and a 2017 filled with great books!

Giving Thanks

Post Fall 2016

November is the month to express our special thanks to our many volunteers and the staff and teachers at our RIF schools who give of their time and energy! Throughout the year, they show our RIF kids that reading is fun! We are also grateful for our donors and friends who support our mission of inspiring kids to read.

At the end of October, we wrapped up our fall book distribution. It was a resounding success! We delivered books to 4,137 keiki in kindergarten through third grade, 212 classroom libraries and 55 student helpers in our 16 RIF schools. A total of 5,694 books were distributed including 1,250 “grab bag” bonus books.

We will take a brief break before we begin ordering books and preparing for our winter book distribution which starts January 17, 2017.

October Treats

50th Nanaikapono 2016 3 Last month, we started our fall book distribution. In fact, our visit to Nanaikapono Elementary School coincided with RIF’s 50th birthday so we had a grand celebration!

Our school visits continue this month and we have more treats (no tricks!) in store! Our volunteers always look forward to visiting the classrooms and reading to the keiki. But the best part of all is hearing all the ooooh’s and aaaah’s as the students get their first glimpse of all the shiny new books in the RIF book bag! And what a treat choosing a book to keep as their own!

Happy 50th Birthday, RIF!

50th Nanaikapono 2016 Banner

Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. celebrates its 50th birthday on September 14, 2016! RIF is the nation’s largest non-profit children’s literacy organization. Since 1966, more than 12 million books have been distributed to 40 million children nationwide.

In recognition of this momentous occasion, Governor David Ige has proclaimed September 14, 2016 “Reading Is Fundamental Day.” Our RIF-Honolulu volunteers will celebrate this special day by visiting Nanaikapono Elementary School and distributing books to the students in kindergarten through grade three. The book, “Happy Birthday to You!” by Dr. Seuss will also be read and presented to each of these classroom libraries.

We look forward to many more years of inspiring kids to read!