Ten years ago during the 1997-1998 school year, McHenry School in Rome, Georgia
conducted a “small” project that turned out to be a big event. A small teddy
bear we named McHenry Book Bear made at the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, left our
school and embarked on a nationwide mission to promote reading and teach about our
great nation as well.
In 2007-2008 McHenry Book Bear’s little brother, RIC Bear, will leave our school
on a new journey celebrating the 10-year anniversary of his brother’s travels.
However, RIC is not only going to promote reading and U.S. geography, but we also
plan to pull in cultural awareness and diversity which makes us such a great
country. And just so you know, RIC stands for “Reading Is Cool!”
We are seeking potential host sites for RIC Bear during 2007-2008. We are looking
for schools and libraries that will allow us to show off the rich heritage and
melting pot of America. During the first traveling bear project we were able to
schedule McHenry Book Bear to visit 35 schools and libraries in 35 states. As
before only ONE school/library or site will be chosen from each state…and we plan
to squeeze in as many states as possible. Our school year begins August 1, 2007
and we plan to launch RIC Bear to his first site by August 3rd.
What are some of the things we are looking for?
Enthusiasm for the project
Special events
Diverse cultures [I hope to have representatives from a Jewish school/library and
Muslim school/library, Native American school (Cherokee would be great for us since
the Cherokee lived in our area…but it is possible for another tribe to be
represented), school for the deaf, etc.]. By having representatives from schools
with children of these cultures, I hope to pull in lessons about holidays they
celebrate, customs, etc. during their visit…and hopefully RIC can be scheduled to
visit during one of these special events.
We will be looking for elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, small
schools, large schools, country schools, big-city schools, public/private/parochial
schools, public libraries, etc. We also prefer that the project be coordinated by
the librarian…someone who sees all children within the school. I am also hoping
to include one or two “special” visits for RIC Bear if we can work that in the
schedule and we receive word back from the contacts at those sites.
RIC BEAR GUIDELINES
Only one site will be selected in each state. As many states as possible will be
selected as we can fit in the year.
Each site selected will be responsible for the cost of sending RIC to the next host
site and it must at least be second day air. He MUST be sent out on Friday even if
he should not arrive at your site the day before. This happened to one of McHenry
Book Bear’s host sites due to the UPS strike that year. He wasn’t able to
visit but for most of the last day. A good idea is to secure the sponsorship of a
Mailboxes, Etc. or UPS Store to take on the cost of shipping. We will be able to
list them on the website as a sponsor.
If you wish to submit to host RIC Bear…please send the following information to
me at:
Pope1966@aol.com
In the subject field of your e-mail to me, put <STATE> and <CITY>. For example,
GEORGIA, ROME would be what I would put in the subject field. You may also include
the name of your school, for example, GEORGIA, ROME (McHenry Primary). Please
include the following information in the body of your e-mail.
1) Name of School AND your name
2) Complete school or library address
3) Are you the librarian, teacher, etc.?
4) # of Students
5) What type of cultural or diversity does your school represent, if any.
6) Ideas for RIC’s visit to your school or area
7) Any special event (specific date) you would like for RIC to visit, if any.
(If you are one of the cultural diverse schools…please list special holidays,
etc. you might celebrate)
8) Any dates you already know that RIC should not visit (testing, etc.)
9) Beginning date of school and ending date for 2007-2008 school year.
10) Summer contact information (e-mail, summer address, etc.). More than likely it
will be in June before I am able to select and contact host sites. Selected sites
will receive an e-mail confirmation. I will also post a message on LM_NET
announcing selected sites, instead of contacting every single person who e-mails
me. I will spend the summer coordinating the schedule and hope to put as much as
possible on our website to cut down on mailing costs, etc.
If you are interested in this project…please go to our school website at:
http://www.floydboe.net/Sites/Site10/HomePage.asp?&Check=True&Check=True
From the menu on the left, select: Library Media Center. You can select the
“1997-1998 McHenry BB” to see a little about our original project or 2007-2008
RIC Bear to read more about the project and see a picture of RIC.
Thank you for your interest!
Tony Pope
Library Media Specialist
McHenry Primary School
100 McHenry Dr.
Rome, GA 30161
Home: Pope1966@aol.com
Work: tpope@floydboe.net
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