Village Elementary School was very fortunate this past school year to be the recipient of support from various community organizations who value literacy education. During the last week of school, Village students who attended the Reading Room were each given a new book by the Altrusa Club of Portland. This organization has a special focus on literacy and provides non-profits with books for children.

Martha Donahue, a member of Altrusa who taught at Village for many years, delivered the books. These gifts will help to avoid the summer slide, a time when students lose skills over the summer.

In addition, the Reading Room students once again have access to the website, Big Universe. This website provides online, leveled ebooks that students can access on computers, tablets, or phones. A bookshelf is set up for each student, stocked with ebooks at the student’s reading level. The subscription was purchased last spring through a grant from the Gorham Educational Foundation.

Finally, during the school year, five members of the Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club volunteered their time once a week to be reading buddies to first and second graders and listen to the students read. This developed the students’ confidence and provided practice with their reading skills. The students loved the time they spent with their reading buddies.