Literacy Program

The Rotary Club of Orlando works to help at-risk kids embrace reading. In the fall of 2010, we hosted our first  50 First Graders at Ivey Lane Elementary School, a Title 1 school where most of the children are considered at-risk and come from a challenged socio-economic community.  Working in conjunction with Wild Horse Tales, a 501(c)3 foundation, we provided books, a school visit by Orange County Mounted Patrol and a field trip to the sheriff’s stable, all part of an effort to help students learn the important of reading. The program continued to expand to include Ivey Lane Forth Graders in the following year.  Five more Title 1 schools have been added to the program, including; Rock Lake, Eccleston, Grand Avenue Learning Center, Washington Shores and Orange County Public School’s ACE Paramore school.

During this 10 year period our club has invested over $38,000, by providing over 3,800 books to 2,131 students.  In 2014 we also began a further investment in literacy by holding Book Fairs in cooperation with Scholastic Books. During this 6 year period we have conducted 17 book fairs for 3,532 students and 142 teachers at Ivey Lane and Rock Lake, giving away over 7,500 books.  Our investment in book fairs to help these children to improve their reading skills was $36,343.

One member’s vision and one club’s support is making a difference to several thousand students.  Have a vision?  Want to make a difference? The Rotary Club of Orlando may be able to help you vision come alive so you can make a difference!