The Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary Club has partnered with Stevens Book Elementary School to support literary. From left are Rotarian Joanne Cohn; Aliza Wyman, librarian; Valerie Young, principal; Jess Emery, instructional coach; and Linda Soutier, a friend of Rotary. Submitted photo

BRIDGTON — The Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary Club has been awarded a grant of $4,000 to support childhood literacy at Stevens Brook Elementary School. The local club itself will contribute another $500 to the project.

This grant was from Rotary District 7780, which encompasses 39 Rotary Clubs in southern Maine and coastal New Hampshire. The project is set to begin Tuesday, Oct. 15.

All of the funds will be used to purchase books for classroom teaching and the school library. Rotarians and community volunteers will work to help third- and fourth-grade classroom teachers during literacy classes.

“It is the current third and fourth graders who were most affected by the loss of classroom teaching during the COVID pandemic. They lost a full year in the classroom and then were disadvantaged by the masking that was required once school resumed. The masks prevented the children from seeing the teachers’ lips in literacy classes and made listening more difficult,” said Jess Emery, literacy instructional coach for the school, according to a news release from the rotary club.

Rotary needs community members who are able to commit to a regular weekly schedule of two to three hours as classroom volunteers or be available as a substitute when necessary. The volunteers’ schedule will follow the school’s calendar year.

Rotarian Joanne Cohn, who is the Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary lead on this project, remarked, “This is a serious time commitment but promises to be very rewarding. No teaching experience or literacy training is required, just a love of reading that you will share with children.”

For more information, contact Cohn at joanne.cohn643@gmail.com or 617-306-1956.

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