Romero family
Jim Frey
Now that the school year has started, look for Avondale and Litchfield Elementary District school buses promoting the importance of reading to children every day. The Goodyear PebbleCreek Rotary Club (GYPC) printed signs that have been placed on 75 buses that say “Read 20 Minutes a Day to Your Child’ in both English and Spanish. All the signs have a picture of a parent reading to their children. Karen Gisme, GYPC’s Youth Service Chairperson said, “These school bus signs help drive the important message to get on the learning bus.” O’Neil Printing, a 116-year-old print communications company in Phoenix, donated the printing of the signs, and Kelly Spicers Paper Company donated the material for the signs.
Both the Avondale and Litchfield Elementary School Districts have partnered with the GYPC on several projects. Here’s what the school districts’ superintendents had to say about the school bus signs. “Our school district is proud to collaborate with the GYPC to support early literacy awareness! Their Rotary Club has a long history of supporting literacy efforts in our community. The Rotary Club members are committed to creating positive outcomes for our children, and developing a literacy campaign is a powerful next step to growing readers and learners,” said Dr. Betsy Hargrove, Superintendent of Avondale Elementary School District. And Dr. Carter Davidson, Superintendent of Litchfield Elementary School District, said, “I am grateful for the community-wide efforts to support early childhood literacy. The families and children of the Litchfield Elementary School District will benefit greatly from the dedication of partners like the GYPC and our staff, as we work to remove barriers to reading and getting books into the hands of our youngest learners.”
Early childhood literacy is a top priority for the Goodyear PebbleCreek Rotary Club and their Foundation. Club President Mary Kay Utecht said, “The single most impactful activity that a parent can do for their child is to read to them 20 minutes a day. We hope every parent realizes the importance of the message on the school buses.” And the Foundation’s President Patrick Doland said, “Our Rotary Club and Foundation believe that reading to a child can open their world and create a lifetime of memories. We hope that this program will encourage more parents to make reading to their children part of their daily schedule and share in their excitement each time they turn the page on a new adventure.”
In addition to the school bus sign program, the GYPC is an affiliate of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which is a free program for children up to the age of 5. Currently there are 1,650 children living in the West Valley who are receiving a free age-appropriate book every month and since the program was started in 2021, over 34,000 free books have been mailed to the children living in the West Valley. And another program that is happening now is the building and placing of 11 Little Lending Libraries going into neighborhoods in Avondale, Goodyear, and Litchfield Park. The libraries contain both children’s and adult books with the theme of “Take One, Leave One.”
The GYPC Rotary Club meets every Wednesday at 7 a.m. in PebbleCreek in Goodyear. If you are interested in learning more about the club, please contact Linda Babcock at 602–770-3924 or [email protected].