News

Nanaikapono students enjoy their books

Kindergarten and Grade 1 students at Nanaikapono Elementary School were very happy to receive their books (and bookmarks!).  This was their first RIF visitation of the school year, and they are looking forward to the Winter and Spring visits!

Mahalo .. and Aloha!

These are just a few of the MANY thank-you cards, letters, and posters that students made for their RIF readers this school year.  The messages inside are sweet and often funny, but some 3rd graders’ letters were tinged with a bit of sadness as this would be their last RIF year (we serve pre-school through third grade).  We’ll miss them, too, and hope they’ve discovered the joy of reading, especially for fun, during their four years with RIF.

A Blossoming ‘Thank You’ from Kauluwela Kids

Ka’uluwela Elementary third grade students presented their special thank you card to Mrs. Tam at their last RIF visitation of the school year. Each child wanted to show her the “petal” they made to express their mahalo to her for reading to them, reminding them why reading is so important (especially over the summer months while they won’t be in school), and allowing them to select a book of their own.

Kamaile Elementary Students Enjoy Their “Special Treat”


Kamaile Elementary first graders were happy to receive their books from Panda Cares, even after realizing that their “special treat” from Panda wasn’t going to be fortune cookies!

Grade 1 Students Receive Books From ‘Panda Cares’

Through a partnership with Panda Express and their Panda Cares Foundation, we will be distributing three free books to the first grade students in our 16 schools. These books will be in addition to their regular RIF books, so the first grade students will receive six books this year!

Waimanalo Elementary had a special guest reader for their event — Principal Mr. Noel Richardson!

 

2018-2019 School Visitations In Full Swing

Well-behaved kindergarteners at Kauluwela Elementary listened with rapt attention during their first RIF school visitation of the year. 

Our 16 schools have set up their book distribution dates and are eagerly waiting their turn for our volunteers to get their students excited and share their love of reading!

🎈RIF-Honolulu’s 40th 🎈

Volunteers gathered at the end of this school year for our annual Thank You luncheon, to celebrate RIF-Honolulu’s 40th anniversary, and honor long-time volunteer Alice Fink. RIF-Honolulu started with four elementary schools in 1978 and gradually expanded over the years to our current 16 schools. The success of our program is the result of a dedicated corps of volunteers who enjoy getting children excited about reading. These ladies and gentlemen are rewarded every time they see the delight on children’s faces as they listen to stories and are then able to pick a book of their own to take home.

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.”