metro »
GO
ALL IN
with a CD from
Talmer Bank
And turning the page on illiteracy.
Vivian Henoch | Special to the Jewish News
D
ear Reader …
Imagine how it would feel if
the words on this page looked
like nothing more than a jumble of letters.
Imagine — if only for a moment — living
your life with the inability to read beyond
the level of a fourth-grader. Just imagine
not being able to read to your own child.
Feeding the community’s need to read
while raising funds for literacy programs
to benefit thousands of school children and
adults alike, Bookstock — Metro Detroit’s
Biggest & Best Used Book Sale — returns
to Laurel Park in Livonia, Sunday, May 15,
through Sunday, May 22.
A project of the Jewish Community
Relations Council (JCRC), which serves as
its institutional home, Bookstock marks its
14th year generating more than $1 million
in proceeds to benefit reading programs
in schools and adult educational projects
throughout the city of Detroit as well as
Wayne and Oakland counties.
BUILDING BETTER READERS
As you browse through Bookstock for your
pleasure in May, note that one of many
projects, which your purchase supports, is
JCRC’s work on behalf of literacy — work
that goes on year-round throughout the
community. Literally, tons of books are col-
lected, sorted and sold each year, thanks
to more than 800 volunteers who work
together to organize and staff the sale. After
the sale each year, charities are invited to
collect the unsold books and put them back
into the hands of readers through their
nonprofit organizations.
Bookstock’s partner organizations
include Akiva Hebrew Day School,
BBYO, Brandeis University, Delta Kappa
Gamma, Frankel Jewish Academy,
Hadassah-Greater Detroit Chapter, Hillel
Day School PTO, Jewish Community
Center of Metropolitan Detroit, JCRC,
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
Women’s Philanthropy, National Council of
Jewish Women, Oakland Literacy Council
and ORT America.
1.10% APY*
11-month CD
800.456.1500
talmerbank.com
* Annual Percentage Yield (APY) of 1.10% is accurate
as of May 2, 2016. The minimum balance to open
a CD and earn the advertised APY is $1,000, which
must be deposited in a single transaction. Maximum
allowable deposit is $250,000 per account. Offer
applies to personal accounts only and may be
discontinued at any time. Deposits must be new
money (funds not currently on deposit at Talmer
Bank and Trust). A penalty may be imposed for early
withdrawals. At maturity, the CD will automatically
renew at the rate in effect on that date, unless you
instruct us otherwise. Visit talmerbank.com for current
rates, terms and account requirements.
2096650
18 May 5 • 2016
Taking Stock Of Bookstock …
BEYOND BOOKSTOCK
The literacy programs and coalitions that
benefit from Bookstock are far-reaching,
enlisting hundreds of volunteer tutors,
educators and nonprofit organizations
throughout the region. Two programs
established through the partnerships
Bookstock has forged include:
• Detroit Jewish Coalition for Literacy
(DJCL), a project of JCRC, annually
recruits, trains and mobilizes volunteers as
tutors for grades K-3 at 40 schools through-
out Detroit and Oakland County. Through
Bookstock funding, DJCL has worked with
the nonprofit Southwest Solutions to estab-
lish tutoring partnerships with Bennett,
Durfee and Earhart elementary schools as
well as many others under Detroit Public
Schools. Programs are being planned at
Harms and Priest elementary schools.
• NCJW, a Bookstock partner, runs a
“Back to School Store” each fall. Last year,
its Backpack Project donated nearly 1,000
filled back packs to homeless children.
NCJW volunteers also tutor at Coleman E.
Young School in Detroit, where they have
purchased supplies for the tutors as well as
some materials for the library.
Launched in 2012, the Bookstock Fund
now sponsors a variety of micro-grants to
schools as well as reading programs, book
clubs and learning curriculums. With a
recent grant to Michigan Reads, Bookstock
funds bought 1,200 copies of the book
Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey into a Family
Secret so that the students could participate
in the program.
A VISIT TO BENNETT
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Walk through the bright blue doors of
Bennett Elementary School on Mullane
Street and immediately you know what
brings volunteer tutors to class each week
with their arms filled with books. It’s the
kids! Hungry to learn. And the teachers —
giving them their all. And the need for all
to succeed.
Located in the heart of Springwells
Village — a vibrant, culturally rich neigh-
borhood in Southwest Detroit and home
to nearly 17,000 residents — Bennett
Elementary serves more than 500 students
in grades pre-K-5. Additionally, the school
provides a hub for community activities,
English as a Second Language tutoring and
other adult classes and workshops.
Between 70 and 80 percent of the stu-
dents at Bennett are fluent in Spanish or
Arabic, with English a second language
spoken in their homes. For many of
these children, learning to read can be a
struggle.
With the goal to build a bridge between
the Jewish community and a close-knit
Latino community in Detroit, the DJCL
found a perfect match at Bennett through
the advice of Ruby Robinson, supervising
attorney with the Michigan Immigration
Rights Center.
“Bennett has been exceptionally
welcoming to our volunteers,” says Sue
Birnholtz, DJLC chair. Working with
Community School Site Coordinator Kaity
Nicastri, Birnholtz implemented a work-
able program, setting a regular schedule
Volunteers welcome! For more information
on Bennett School or other programs of the
Detroit Jewish Coalition Literacy, call Sandy
Lippitt, literacy programs coordinator, at
(248) 642-2649 or slippitt@jfmd.org. For
more about Bookstook, call the Bookstock
hotline (248) 645-7840, ext. 365 or visit
bookstock.mi.org.
for tutors two days a week, Tuesdays and
Thursdays in two shifts, 10-11:30 a.m. and
1-3:30 p.m.
“This is the first year of the program
and it will continue,” Birnholtz says. “As
the months have flown by, our tutors have
become real adjuncts to their classes and
deeply committed to the students. Some of
the tutors are spending the full day at the
school.”
It’s mid-morning in Mrs. Elizabeth
Mohammed’s third-grade class, and we
find her students building pyramids, count-
ing in Arabic, drawing murals depicting
ancient Egypt — getting ready for the
school’s Multicultural Fair.
The third-grade class next door — wield-
ing paint brushes and cutting yarn — is
weaving the story of Ethiopia. In both class-
rooms, the children are animated, engaged
and working beautifully together. It’s easy
to fall in love with the children here.
“When the tutors walk through these
doors, the children run up to them,” says
Mrs. Mohammed. “They can’t wait to get
started, and they thrive on the one-on-one
attention. At the start of the year, many
were unable to read at the third-grade level.
Now all of them read through their books.
Their motivation and their fluency have
improved by leaps and bounds, and I attri-
bute that 100 percent to our tutors.”
*
Vivian Henoch is editor of myjewishdetroit.org, where
this story first appeared.
Bookstock Special Days
Monday Madness, May 16: The first
1,000 shoppers will receive giveaways
and one shopper will get a $500 Visa gift
card.
Teacher Appreciation Day, Tuesday,
May 17: Teachers will get 50 percent off
with a valid ID from 3-9 p.m.
Bookbuster Special Days,
Wednesday, May 18, and Thursday,
May 19: Buy three books and get the
fourth book free (least expensive item)
from 3-9 p.m.
Half-Price Finale, Sunday, May 22:
All remaining books and media will be
sold for half price.