Page 4 Students First Delmae Heights Elementary School is very fortunate to have many community partners who support our students, teachers, families and our school. When it comes to literacy, our students are so very lucky to have community partners who understand that it takes a village to educate a child and that students need to see that reading and writing are important to everyone! Delmae students participate in many enriching literacy activities that could not have been possible without the emotional and financial support from our partners. For Kindergarten these activities include, but are not limited to, Kindergarten Sit and Sob event (parents write letters to their child on the first day of school to be shared with the child), Stories and Cookies with Santa (an interactive holiday read aloud) and the RIF (Reading Is Fundamental) Event sponsored by the Golden K Kiwanis Club. The club donates brand new books for students to take home. Several of our first grade classes receive weekly classroom visits from “PAWS for Reading” dogs and volunteers (the students take turns reading to therapy dogs). These students along with second grade students also have guest readers (athletes) from the West Florence High School, otherwise known as the “Friday Readers”! Our Third Graders receive free personal dictionaries donated by the Florence Rotary Club each year. During this event, students are challenged to navigate their new resource with speed and accuracy. The students write thank you notes after the event. Fourth graders and their teachers have developed a close partnership with Zaxby’s and Harris Pest Control and both companies have sent representatives to give motivational speeches to students. They have also financially contributed to purchase class novel sets. Delmae students (K-4) have multiple opportunities throughout the year to interact with members of the community and share the wonderful things that they are learning in reading and writing. Some of those connections include Francis Marion University/ Ruiz Foods (funded BINGO for a BOOK), The K24 Foundation (provided paper, pencils and backpacks to Delmae students), USC Athletics/The Carolina Havoc Indoor Arena Football Team (partnered for a reading challenge), and of course our Read for a Bead partners. One of the BIGGEST strategically planned community literacy events of the year for Delmae students is our Read for a Bead event! After reading a book, the student records the title and a sentence about the book on his/her “Read for a Bead” reading log. The student then visits a business partner to receive a bead and share a little about the book. A business partner representative at each location signs the log and presents the student with their bead. Students need to collect 5 beads, one of each color.
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