HOISINGTON — USD 431 Superintendent Bill Lowry and City Councilwoman Karen Van Brimmer, board members of United Way of Central Kansas, shared their love of reading with Hoisington preschoolers Thursday morning. Each donned a familiar red and white striped hat in honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, and read versions of two popular young reader books, “The Little Engine that Could” and “The Wheels on the Bus.”
Then, Roosevelt Elementary kindergarten teachers Della Boxberger, Mandy Mason, and Anita Reif distributed literacy kits courtesy of UWCK to each student.
“You get to keep these and take them home and they will help you to get ready for kindergarten,” Lowry told the students. “There are lots of good things for you to do inside these kits.”
Each kit comes with a monkey-shaped drawstring backpack, and inside there are a variety of learning materials including alphabet and numbers flashcards, a book, worksheets, and crayons, all aimed at preparing youngsters for kindergarten and getting them excited about reading.
The literacy kit project is in its third year in UWCK’s service area. The first kits were distributed in 2016 to students in Great Bend.
This year the program is expanding to Hoisington and Otis-Bison. A total of 43 kits were distributed to Hoisington students Thursday, and Otis-Bison students will receive theirs during kindergarten Roundup in April, UWCK Executive Director Julie Bugner-Smith said. This year, a total of 450 kits will be distributed.
Dolly Parton launch announced
Checking in at Hoisington’s Chamber of Commerce coffee later Thursday morning, Lowry told attendees that USD 431 will be hosting coffee at the district office, as it launches its campaign to bring the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to students in Hoisington. Books and a Power Point presentation will be provided to familiarize the community with the program. A read-a-thon will begin at the end of the month to support that effort.
Hoisington’s new Chamber of Commerce Director Jessica Homolka added that she is looking forward to enrolling her children in the program, which was not available where they lived previously. Currently, Ellinwood and Larned are the only cities in the UWCK service area enrolled in the program, but this year there is a push to expand to Hoisington and Great Bend, Lowry explained. If successful, every student living within USD 431 or the other respective districts can enroll, and will be sent an age appropriate book every month until they are six years old, free of charge to their family.
“When you give to United Way, these are some of the projects you are helping to bring to our community,” Bugner-Smith said.
