I posted this message earlier this month. If you are a school library or
public library in either Alaska or Hawaii...please consider hosting this project.
We had a school in Kanoe, Hawaii host our bear in 1997-98 and one in Alaska
and a public library in Hawaii to host the sister bear in 1998-1999. Thanks,
Tony Pope
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 f
or 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
************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.
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