Mar 21, 2023
SHEPHERDSTOWN ROTARY CLUB AWARDS READING GRANTS
The Shepherdstown Rotary Club has awarded three "Rotary Reads" grants, each for $350, to three Shepherdstown institutions to promote reading.
The first grant went to the Shepherdstown Public Library. It will help cover the cost of adding acoustic tiles to improve the sound quality and comfort of the children's room in the new library building.
The second grant was to the Shepherdstown Day Care Center. It will cover the cost of providing each of the Center's children with a Dr. Seuss book during this year's Read Across America event at the Center, which was held on March 2.
The third grant was to the Shepherdstown Elementary School. It will help fund a special reading activity, in which all the school's kindergartners attend a Maryland Theater stage production about the popular children's author Junie B. Jones and receive their own copy of one of her books.
The grants were presented at the Club's regular Tuesday breakfast meeting at the Bavarian Inn on May 21.
The accompanying photo shows, from left to right: Rotary Club President Sean Murtagh; Day Care Assistant Director Michelle Robertson; Day Care Center Director Melissa Holman; Library Youth Services Director Rachel Heller; Library Director Hali Taylor; Elementary School teacher Michelle Webb; and Elementary School Principal Scot Campbell.
The Shepherdstown Rotary Club's Rotary Reads grant program is one of several Club activities aimed at enhancing literacy among local children. It consists of cash grants, awarded annually, to worthy institutions for projects or programs that promote reading.
Enhancing literacy has been a major priority of Rotarians since their organization's founding in 1905.