Promising Pages Meets Kirsty Coventry

On Friday, June 17, Promising Pages had the privilege of listening to Kirsty Coventry, an Olympic Swimming Champion, share her wisdom and insight on achieving big dreams. While winning gold medals may not seem comparable to an internship with a local Charlotte nonprofit such as Promising Pages, Coventry spoke several truths that are applicable to any individual seeking a successful and prosperous life.

Kirsty Coventry is a 2x Olympic Champion. 7x World Champion. 11x All Africa Champion. World Record Holder. Swimmer. IOC Member. Businesswoman. Ambassador. (@KirstyCoventry) 

Dear Team Read Ambassadors 2016/17, 

Being a Team Read Ambassador for Promising Pages is like training for the Olympic Games. Wait…you don’t believe me? Let me repeat that one more time. Being a Team Read Ambassador for Promising Pages is like training for the Olympic Games. While most of us are not dedicating our time to becoming an Olympic Gold Medalist, Coventry presented very valuable pieces of advice for all of us to remember as we work daily to reach our own goals.

You may have noticed that Coventry’s motto for training to be an Olympian is similar to Kristina’s motto for having a fruitful internship experience. What you put into your goals and ambitions is what you will get out of it. Coventry did not become the best without putting in the time and energy every single day. We learned that her secret to success is by being the first person to the pool each morning and the last to leave each evening. If you want to be the best intern you can be for Promising Pages, put in the effort to become the best you can be. Show up to events early to help set up, and then stay late after events to help clean up. Ask a staff member about extra things you can be doing at home or on the weekends. Be thinking of new ideas and creative projects to make Promising Pages even more unique and successful. Go the extra mile because that is how you are going to truly utilize your time as a Team Read Ambassador.

Remember that getting to where you want to be in life is not going to be easy. Nor should it be easy. The most exciting part about finally achieving your dreams is being able to look back and appreciate the journey it took to get there. As Coventry pointed out, things are going to get thrown at you and you will have to learn how to roll with the punches. There are going to be times when events for Promising Pages change or need adjustments. There will be a point during your experience as a Team Read Ambassador in which you will be asked to step up and take the lead on something. Sometimes being asked to play Erm or Erma at an event may seem intimidating, but you will learn how to go with the flow of things and embrace the unknown. Sometimes you may sign up for a Magic Book Party event that gets moved and end up going to an Operations Center shift instead. The best way to prepare for life is through learning that nothing is set in stone and that everything is subject to change. Learning how to be okay with change is crucial to becoming the most flexible and sufficient professional you can be.

Whether you are training for the Olympics or learning the ins and outs of Promising Pages, you are going to be pushed to your limits. There may be times when you get exhausted and irritated, but don’t give up. We all go through these speed bumps and have to learn how to overcome them. Maybe you have a difficult time working with large groups. Take the time to learn the best way to overcome that bump in the road. This may mean taking a short break to collect yourself during an event. Perhaps you are working with a child and no matter what you say or do, the child does not care about reading books or becoming a bookworm. Don’t be discouraged, Ambassadors. These speed bumps are necessary in order to grow. We all have to go through a lot to get to the places we want to be. Testing your limits and being pushed to your breaking point is a key sign that you are getting closer and closer to reaching your goals. Use these speed bumps as motivation and encouragement to keep going.

Lastly, being an Olympic Gold Medalist such as Kirsty Coventry or being the very best Team Read Ambassador for Promising Pages is not possible without a strong group of individuals surrounding you every step of the way. The people you surround yourself with have the power to push you to achieve the impossible or to pull you back. A big part of being successful in anything that you do is spending your time with people who push you and motivate you to be better, so choose wisely. Coventry did not view other Olympic swimmers as competition. Instead, she used those relationships to practice and become better. It is important to have friends and peers who share a similar passion and desire to succeed because that is a healthy and productive way to improve your skills and qualities as a professional. Remember the biggest competition should always be with yourself. There is always going to be someone better, so you just have to be the best version of yourself you can be.

As Team Read Ambassadors, you are empowered to go above and beyond each day. Don’t ever be afraid to take on the challenges that life throws at you, and always be willing to give your all in order to achieve the great dreams you have for yourself. If you have a desire to stand on that podium just like Coventry did, you’ll have to work hard to get there. Believe in yourselves and GO FOR THE GOLD!

Kids Matter,

Caitlyn Bergmann,

Operations Coordinator/Team Read Staff 

To learn more about Kirsty Coventry, visit her website! 
http://www.kirstycoventry.com/

That's a Wrap!

As the academic school year comes to a close, we have a lot to be thankful for here at Promising Pages. The work being done by our old and new bookworms is just astounding! Erma will surely miss the bright faces of her faithful readers this summer. However, there are some things each and every bookworm can do this summer to make sure their reading continues to improve!

           

Some may believe that reading levels will simply remain the same over the summer months. What if I told you that this is not the case? In fact, the lack of reading over the summer can actually create a shockingly vast decline in reading levels from the previous school year. According to Reading Rockets, “it is the students who can least afford to lose the reading gains they’ve achieved during the school year who fall the farthest behind when they return to the classroom after summer break.” BUT…this doesn’t have to be the reality.  It is the goal of Promising Pages to develop a community in which reading occurs even when school’s out for the summer. Scholastic collected a number of summer learning loss statistics, and two months of reading skills are lost over the summer when students don’t pick up their books. Let’s all agree that this summer will be the summer in which our bookworms defeat these statistics!

           

So how do we make sure our bookworms remember to read this summer? Well first, we must understand what summer reading loss really means. Summer reading loss is best explained through this video that shows what happens over the summer when students aren’t engaging with reading material every day. 

As you can see, the dilemma of summer reading loss is a very real problem for our students each year. There are so many cool and unique tools and resources to help encourage young readers to keep reading, regardless of their summer plans.

Where do you think bookworms can read over the summer? They can read…

1. At the pool!
2. On the beach!
3. In a car/on a plane/on a train!
4. At the park!
5. At the mountains!
6. Before bed!
7. At camp!
8. At grandma’s!
9. At Disney World!
10. And most importantly…AT HOME!!!

While your bookworm may not always be excited about diving into a book over their summer break, there are many interesting ways to get students more enthusiastic about reading!

Try playing a fun game of Summer Reading Bingo! A unique way to reward young readers for reading outside, reading to a parent/sibling, reading on a rainy day and much more!

For students who would rather draw, color and create rather than read a book, check out this printable coloring sheet! Readers can color in a book each time they read a book front to back! This is a great way to visually show children just how many books they read and get them excited about their progress.

 

For children who love sports and are more competitive, get them involved in Scholastic’s Summer Reading Challenge! This is a chance for students to read and log their minutes all summer, unlocking special stories, games, and prizes. Get a group of friends to see who can read the most minutes this summer!

Lastly, where does Promising Pages fit into summer reading? Well, according to the chart above, students from low-income households with no access to books experience detrimental losses in their reading levels. The mission of Promising Pages is to make sure these children from under-served communities get the access to books that they so desperately need, especially during the summer months.

We are so excited for our high school and college interns to join us this summer for Team Read 2016! This is a big time for our organization to promote and encourage summer reading. With the help of our volunteers, sponsors, interns and staff, we hope to crush the statistics of summer reading loss and create even more bookworms in the Greater Charlotte Area!

Remember…books matter and kids matter!