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MORE THAN WORDS: Family wins PARP award

The Kellerman family includes, from left, Carl; fifth-grader, Madison; April; fifth-grader Kaitlyn; and Betty Lucas.

FORESTVILLE — The Kellerman Family was honored recently with the Senator James H. Donovan Award. The award and plaque were presented at the annual Elementary Awards Assembly earlier this month.

It is because this family’s love of reading and commitment to the PARP Program, teacher recommendations, and their essay entitled, “What Reading Means to Our Family,” that the PARP Committee selected them this year. Their names are engraved on a plaque with the many former PARP reading families of the past. It will be proudly displayed in the elementary school lobby showcase.

PARP was founded in 1978 by state Senator James H. Donovan. Donovan, served as chairman of the Senate Education Committee of New York, and worked to incorporate reading skills into children of all ages. As a means to achieve this goal, he developed a program called Parents as Reading Partners, or PARP. The program encourages parents to spend short reading sessions with their children each and every day. A mere 15 minutes a day is all that he asked for.

The senator died in 1991, however, our school’s PARP Program continues as a reminder of his extraordinary love for students, parents, educators and of reading. As a way to honor him, the Forestville schools PARP Committee has created the James H. Donovan PARP Family of the Year Award. Each year, the Parents as Reading Partners Committee selects a family that models & exemplifies what PARP is all about.

This was Forestville Elementary School’s 36th year of participation in the state PTA’s Parents As Reading Partners Program.

The 2018 PARP Committee members include: Mrs. Anne Borrello, Miss Deborah Cook, Mrs. Jennifer Dunn, Mrs. Barbara Faxlanger, Mrs. Katherine Gorczyca; Principal, Mrs. Lindsay Marcinelli, Mrs. Tracey Papia, Miss Kelly Raichel, Mrs. Cindy Spears, Mrs. Lindsey Ruffo, Mrs. Brenda Schneider, and Mr. Gary Worosz.

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