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Community DC Denise Corbo Storybook Treasures · Community D.C.

0:03
Speaker 1: Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community DC.
0:06
Speaker 1: I'm your host Tennis Glasgow. This morning, we welcome back
0:09
Speaker 1: to the program Denise Corbo. She is the founder of
0:12
Speaker 1: Storybook Treasures, a local, nonprofit school based literacy program that
0:16
Speaker 1: provides books, lesson plans, and other materials to pre k
0:20
Speaker 1: through third grade students to foster love of reading and
0:23
Speaker 1: build their home libraries. The program provides students with books,
0:27
Speaker 1: a corresponding toy, and a tote bag to take home.
0:29
Speaker 1: For teachers, it offers curated lesson plans and workbooks, and
0:33
Speaker 1: parents receive bilingual resources to support reading at home. The
0:37
Speaker 1: program prioritizes economically disadvantaged communities, aiming to improve literacy skills
0:42
Speaker 1: and academic success for students. We'll also visit with Storybook
0:46
Speaker 1: Treasures inaugural Teacher of the Year, Caroline O'Neill, who teaches
0:49
Speaker 1: kindergarten at Park Ridge Elementary in Stafford, Virginia. Here's my
0:53
Speaker 1: conversation with Denise. I hope you enjoy the conversation as
0:56
Speaker 1: much as I did.
0:57
Speaker 2: Good morning, Denise, Hi, Good morning Dennis.
0:59
Speaker 1: It's been a well since we had you on, and
1:01
Speaker 1: we always have a lot of new listeners on Community DC,
1:04
Speaker 1: and I would just like you to talk about Storybook Treasures,
1:07
Speaker 1: about what it is and why you started it, how
1:09
Speaker 1: long it's been around. Can you tell us about the
1:11
Speaker 1: origin story please?
1:12
Speaker 2: Yeah? Sure.
1:13
Speaker 3: So Storybook Treasures actually started in my kindergarten classrooms. So
1:17
Speaker 3: I've been a kindergarten teacher for over thirty years, and
1:20
Speaker 3: in about fifteen years ago, when standards changed from kindergartens
1:24
Speaker 3: a place to learn about the alphabet and socialization to
1:27
Speaker 3: you better have them reading, I knew I needed to
1:30
Speaker 3: change the way that I did business, and so I
1:35
Speaker 3: created a program based on best practices, trying to get
1:39
Speaker 3: all the children excited about reading, excited about books, putting
1:42
Speaker 3: books in their hands, and also getting parents engaged with
1:45
Speaker 3: the process, because we know that that's such an important
1:48
Speaker 3: element to ensure that parents are reading and engaging with
1:51
Speaker 3: kids at home. And then at the end of the year,
1:54
Speaker 3: every one of my students got a perfect score on
1:56
Speaker 3: their literacy test. Nice And so I went to my
1:59
Speaker 3: husband and I said, you know, I need to start
2:02
Speaker 3: a nonprofit. I need to share this out with my friends.
2:06
Speaker 3: My colleagues need this, you know, families need this, children
2:09
Speaker 3: need this, And I really want to start a nonprofit.
2:12
Speaker 2: And he looked at me and he said, who's money
2:16
Speaker 2: you're going to use for that? And I said our money,
2:19
Speaker 2: and yeah, he kind of checked, just like you're doing now.
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Speaker 3: And he's like, uh, you know you're a teacher, right,
2:26
Speaker 3: He's like, there's no money to start a nonprofit or
2:29
Speaker 3: a business. And I just always know that I have
2:34
Speaker 3: a plan and God tends to have a bigger plan.
2:37
Speaker 3: And so I came back to him about two weeks
2:39
Speaker 3: later and I said, guess what I'm going to do.
2:41
Speaker 3: I took on a job driving a limousine and I'm
2:43
Speaker 3: going to work on the weekends and earn money to
2:47
Speaker 3: start this nonprofit, Storybook Treasures. And so we started about
2:52
Speaker 3: twelve years ago with two hundred students and now we're
2:56
Speaker 3: when and we're based in Northern Virginia, so we're based
2:59
Speaker 3: in in Loudon County. We started with two schools, two
3:03
Speaker 3: hundred students, one school in Loudon County, Sugarland Elementary, and
3:08
Speaker 3: another school in Florida. And now we're fifteen thousand students
3:12
Speaker 3: across ten different states. And the growth it's been incredible
3:19
Speaker 3: growth word of mouth, really just teachers saying, oh, my gosh,
3:24
Speaker 3: this is incredible. My kids need books and just knowing
3:27
Speaker 3: the need. You know, we know as educators kids are
3:31
Speaker 3: coming to us. They're not being read to. They don't
3:34
Speaker 3: have books at home. Families aren't engaged in reading with
3:39
Speaker 3: with their children.
3:40
Speaker 2: They don't know that.
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Speaker 3: You know, we all have books in our hearts that
3:44
Speaker 3: we know when we love because we were read to,
3:46
Speaker 3: And the children are coming to us now, I think electronics,
3:50
Speaker 3: there's a lot of different things that come into play,
3:52
Speaker 3: but they don't have books in their hearts. So when
3:55
Speaker 3: we're trying to teach them how to read, it's hard.
3:58
Speaker 3: Reading it's hard, and if you don't have experience or motivation,
4:04
Speaker 3: it becomes very a big challenge, you know, to teach
4:07
Speaker 3: children how to read. But once they have experience with books,
4:12
Speaker 3: that is a game changer. And a lot of times
4:14
Speaker 3: I think about playing an instrument. You know, when you
4:17
Speaker 3: learn how to play an instrument for the first time
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Speaker 3: and say it's piano, it's hard, it's challenging, it takes
4:23
Speaker 3: a lot of lot of practice. But as soon as
4:25
Speaker 3: you get a piece of music that you know, all
4:28
Speaker 3: of a sudden, it's a game changer. All of a sudden,
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Speaker 3: you're playing at a level that you shouldn't be because
4:33
Speaker 3: you're not at that level yet. But because you know
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Speaker 3: the tune, because you know the words to the song,
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Speaker 3: all of a sudden, you have motivation, you have excitement,
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Speaker 3: and you can't wait to play that piece of music,
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Speaker 3: and also to share what you've learned it to say.
4:48
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, listen to this, listen to what I
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Speaker 2: can play.
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Speaker 3: And it's almost the same thing with books and putting
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Speaker 3: books in the hands of kids.
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Speaker 2: We see that same dynamic.
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Speaker 1: Well, I appreciate your passion and your enthusiasm, and I
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Speaker 1: think we learned in the series and the hundreds of
5:01
Speaker 1: interviews that we've done on community d C Denise that
5:04
Speaker 1: you know, it's one thing to have the experience that
5:07
Speaker 1: you do in the field that you're in, but then
5:10
Speaker 1: say you're going to start a nonprofit and actually do
5:12
Speaker 1: it and execute it. And I know you know how
5:14
Speaker 1: hard it is, but the growth over the last decade
5:17
Speaker 1: plus has been extraordinary. Let's do this because I know
5:19
Speaker 1: this is really important, especially to our listeners, to grasp
5:22
Speaker 1: what Storybook Treasures is doing. What is your mission and
5:26
Speaker 1: your vision for the nonprofit?
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Speaker 3: So so our mission is putting books on the hands
5:30
Speaker 3: of children who need them the most. So we typically
5:32
Speaker 3: work with schools Title Win schools, so the highest poverty schools.
5:37
Speaker 3: That's who we typically will work with. And what we
5:41
Speaker 3: do from there is once we have connect with with
5:45
Speaker 3: a school and Fundy of course, you know, Fundy is
5:48
Speaker 3: a major piece of this. You know, it takes money
5:50
Speaker 3: for any nonprofit to fulfill their mission. So so sometimes
5:55
Speaker 3: schools will buy the program from us. Sometimes we'll have
5:57
Speaker 3: a grant, or sometimes we'll have a donor comes in
6:00
Speaker 3: that wants to support a school, and and then and
6:03
Speaker 3: then sometimes we'll have donations as well. And then once
6:06
Speaker 3: we connect with that school, the next thing we do
6:08
Speaker 3: is we provide professional development because we want the teachers
6:11
Speaker 3: to know what materials they're getting, how the program works,
6:15
Speaker 3: because we want to see a return on the investment.
6:16
Speaker 2: We don't just want to give books.
6:19
Speaker 3: And great materials to schools and to teachers without them
6:23
Speaker 3: understanding the impact and and and that is a big,
6:28
Speaker 3: big thing for us, is to make sure that we
6:30
Speaker 3: are seeing that return, that we're seeing parents more engaged
6:33
Speaker 3: in reading with their kids at home, at children who
6:37
Speaker 3: are building their home libraries that actually have books that
6:39
Speaker 3: they can read and access in their homes that are
6:42
Speaker 3: readily available to them. And and then also having that
6:47
Speaker 3: professional development piece because we know when we go in
6:50
Speaker 3: and we support our teachers, we're giving them skills and
6:54
Speaker 3: techniques and strategies that they'll have for the rest of
6:57
Speaker 3: their career.
6:58
Speaker 2: So whether story about treasures can con we always hope
7:01
Speaker 2: it continues.
7:02
Speaker 3: But whether it continues or not, we know that those
7:05
Speaker 3: skills and those strategies are with them forever and that
7:08
Speaker 3: will be touching so many more children throughout their career.
7:11
Speaker 1: Agreed, Denise, You've been an educator for a long time
7:14
Speaker 1: and I'm sure you've got your opinions, and this could
7:16
Speaker 1: be a very long conversation, but if you can maybe
7:18
Speaker 1: give us a synopsis, because you've been an educator for
7:22
Speaker 1: so long and for decades, what happened when it came
7:24
Speaker 1: to reading in books to where it was and you
7:27
Speaker 1: noticed there was an inherent problem and that's where you
7:29
Speaker 1: came in and started a problem solved both what happened
7:32
Speaker 1: with books, especially getting in schools and giving them in
7:35
Speaker 1: children's hands.
7:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that technology has has has absorbed some
7:41
Speaker 3: of that time. So you know, putty and COVID was
7:46
Speaker 3: a big issue too. When we took every we gave
7:49
Speaker 3: every child basically a laptop in our.
7:51
Speaker 2: School division pre K all the way up to high school.
7:55
Speaker 3: And so when you have technology and devices, I think
7:58
Speaker 3: that then your interests become something different.
8:01
Speaker 2: And I think with with.
8:02
Speaker 3: Younger children that read aloud is so critical, and having
8:05
Speaker 3: books in the hands and being able to sit with
8:09
Speaker 3: some it's an experience.
8:11
Speaker 2: Being able to set someone's.
8:12
Speaker 3: Lap, or being able to be part of a classroom
8:13
Speaker 3: where every child has exposure to to that same book
8:18
Speaker 3: at the same time is such a critical component.
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Speaker 2: And I know that.
8:22
Speaker 3: You know that right now our nations in a literacy crisis.
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Speaker 3: You have forty percent of children in Virginia are not
8:29
Speaker 3: reading on crane level. And that's not just Virginia, that's nationwide,
8:32
Speaker 3: and and there's a I believe that there's a lot
8:35
Speaker 3: of reasons for that. I think that you know, we
8:38
Speaker 3: have gone through some curriculum changes and and I know
8:43
Speaker 3: that one thing that has been prevalent and been talked
8:47
Speaker 3: about a lot is the Lucy Cowkins curriculum that many
8:51
Speaker 3: many school districts we're utilizing, and and even in Loudon
8:57
Speaker 3: County one thing that that that addressed was our falling
9:02
Speaker 3: liberty scores. We did our own internal evaluation to see
9:06
Speaker 3: are our materials and curriculum effective and and after that study,
9:12
Speaker 3: what came back was they are ineffective and children aren't
9:16
Speaker 3: learning to read. And I believe that that has become
9:20
Speaker 3: part of that national problem where forty percent of our
9:23
Speaker 3: kids aren't reading. So that's part of it curriculum, But
9:25
Speaker 3: the other part of it is is books are expensive. Parents,
9:29
Speaker 3: especially in high poverty neighborhoods, they're not buying books for
9:33
Speaker 3: their children. They're not bringing their children to the library.
9:36
Speaker 3: They just don't have time. They're busy working and they're
9:38
Speaker 3: trying to make a living and they don't they maybe
9:42
Speaker 3: never have experience to read aloud. And the importance of
9:45
Speaker 3: that and connecting, you know, books with family and and
9:49
Speaker 3: I think that that that contributes also to the problem.
9:53
Speaker 2: You know, if kids don't have books at home, if.
9:55
Speaker 3: They're if they don't have the experience. Kids are kids,
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Speaker 3: they're not going to want to do it. I want
10:00
Speaker 3: to do hard things. And then how do you motivate
10:02
Speaker 3: them to do you know, to get engaged and to
10:06
Speaker 3: get excited about books and so what we have seen
10:09
Speaker 3: with storybook Treasures and any teacher in general. I mean,
10:12
Speaker 3: as soon as you start reading a book to children,
10:16
Speaker 3: all of a sudden.
10:17
Speaker 2: There's a calmness in the classroom. All of a sudden.
10:20
Speaker 2: Kids are paying attention and and they want more.
10:24
Speaker 3: And so if you're reading a chapter book and you
10:26
Speaker 3: stop at a certain chapter, you know, the kids can't
10:29
Speaker 3: wait for that next time. When when when you read
10:32
Speaker 3: that book aloud again and there and there's something I
10:35
Speaker 3: think really calming and soothing too about being read to
10:39
Speaker 3: and then going back and be able to reread you know,
10:43
Speaker 3: certain parts and experience that book.
10:44
Speaker 2: Over and over.
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Speaker 1: Agreed, And as a parent of a now a twenty
10:47
Speaker 1: three year old, I still have very fond memories of
10:50
Speaker 1: reading to my daughter for many years, and I also
10:52
Speaker 1: remember the books too. And you're right, it's it's an
10:55
Speaker 1: imprint on the parents and the children when it comes
10:57
Speaker 1: to reading. And it's a very special, very more private
11:01
Speaker 1: time that you have with your children if you're going
11:02
Speaker 1: to be able to do that. So you're just enhancing that.
11:05
Speaker 1: Before we get an opportunity to meet your first recipient
11:09
Speaker 1: of the Teacher of the Year and Carolyn O'Neill from
11:11
Speaker 1: Park Dge Elementary in Stafford, Virginia, and why you chose her,
11:15
Speaker 1: And I'll let you introduce that in just a moment, Denise.
11:18
Speaker 1: I love to talk about feedback that you're getting from
11:20
Speaker 1: some of the schools, the faculties and the parents as
11:22
Speaker 1: you have these relationships. I imagine it's glowing. But can
11:26
Speaker 1: you maybe share a story with us or some of
11:28
Speaker 1: the feedback that you're getting as you build these relationships.
11:32
Speaker 2: Yeah.
11:32
Speaker 3: No, And you know that's that's the thing that really
11:35
Speaker 3: keeps me going and keeps me motivated. I know that
11:37
Speaker 3: I've had I've had people say, you know, well, what
11:40
Speaker 3: motivates you?
11:41
Speaker 2: You know, we see, we see you with your tax returning.
11:43
Speaker 3: You don't have a salary, So what motivates you to
11:45
Speaker 3: do what you're doing? And it really is that connection
11:48
Speaker 3: and and and seeing a difference of making a difference
11:51
Speaker 3: in the lives of children and families and and so
11:54
Speaker 3: we have had tons of feedback where where families are saying,
11:59
Speaker 3: you know, I don't I can't afford books. This program
12:03
Speaker 3: has helped me be able to share books with my
12:06
Speaker 3: kids and to have and have books at home, and
12:09
Speaker 3: and they've they've said that, you know, my child is
12:11
Speaker 3: teaching me how to read because I don't know how
12:15
Speaker 3: to read. The English is not my first language, and
12:18
Speaker 3: so I don't know how to read, and and these
12:21
Speaker 3: books are helping me learn how to read. But it's
12:23
Speaker 3: also helping siblings learn how to read, because when when
12:27
Speaker 3: the child has these books, they're just so they know
12:31
Speaker 3: these books inside and out, and and when they bring
12:34
Speaker 3: them home, they're so excited and they want to engage
12:37
Speaker 3: with their families and with with siblings too, and and
12:39
Speaker 3: and so that is really powerful when you hear that
12:42
Speaker 3: that these books and this program is helping, you know,
12:46
Speaker 3: not just the child that that we're directly servicing how
12:49
Speaker 3: to read, but also siblings, an extended family, and and
12:53
Speaker 3: some of the feedback from teachers are we've heard that
12:58
Speaker 3: I can't teach without this program.
12:59
Speaker 2: Now we're right point.
13:01
Speaker 1: To that's a lovely compliment. Yeah, that's lovely. Yeah, that's
13:04
Speaker 1: a that's a real big deal. Well you know too,
13:07
Speaker 1: And we'll talk about this with Carolyn just a little bit.
13:09
Speaker 1: But listen, you don't have to be in the industry
13:12
Speaker 1: to know that they have limited resources and funds and
13:15
Speaker 1: that's where you come in so I'm sure you just
13:17
Speaker 1: so appreciated that you can have these partnerships, right.
13:20
Speaker 3: And and and you know, and and and that's part
13:22
Speaker 3: of it too, is that, you know, we wish we
13:23
Speaker 3: could reach out to so many more, but funding.
13:26
Speaker 2: Is always, you know, the thing that holds us back.
13:29
Speaker 3: You know, every school would love to have this program,
13:32
Speaker 3: but how do we fund it? And and and this
13:35
Speaker 3: year it's been especially challenging with with some of the
13:38
Speaker 3: budget constraints that the schools have been faced with, and
13:43
Speaker 3: and and some of the cuts and things like that.
13:45
Speaker 3: So so this year will be especially challenging for schools,
13:49
Speaker 3: and we're just grateful that we have, you know, donors
13:52
Speaker 3: and other partners that help support.
13:54
Speaker 1: As well well good and we're going to handle that.
13:56
Speaker 1: On the other side of speaking with Carolyn, because I
13:59
Speaker 1: heard has an megaphone for you, So hopefully we're going
14:01
Speaker 1: to get some listeners that get excited about what you
14:03
Speaker 1: and your team are doing that they can make donations,
14:06
Speaker 1: how to do that, and how to be partners, whether
14:08
Speaker 1: it's a small meetingum large business, or they just want
14:10
Speaker 1: to make a one time donation or do it regularly
14:12
Speaker 1: with you, or even donate books too. Because I know
14:14
Speaker 1: a lot of people have held on the books for
14:16
Speaker 1: a long time, and I know you take that as well.
14:18
Speaker 1: So let's do this. You have your first recipient of
14:21
Speaker 1: Teacher of the Year and it's Carolyn O'Neill from Stafford,
14:24
Speaker 1: Virginia Parkridge Elementary thousand dollars, which is really huge on
14:28
Speaker 1: your part to put that together. We'll chat with her
14:31
Speaker 1: about receiving it and all the things that come with that.
14:34
Speaker 1: But why did you choose her?
14:35
Speaker 3: Yeah? So so well, I don't know if you know,
14:39
Speaker 3: but I actually was a lot in County, Washington Post
14:42
Speaker 3: Teacher of the Year in twenty eighteen, and I knew
14:45
Speaker 3: after that experience, I knew how important it really is
14:50
Speaker 3: just to highlight teachers. Teachers don't get the recognition that
14:53
Speaker 3: they need. And I was just so in awe that
14:57
Speaker 3: they choose me. You know, all of the the applicants.
15:00
Speaker 2: That they had.
15:01
Speaker 3: We went to a dinner and we were able to
15:03
Speaker 3: hear highlights from every single one of the of the applicants.
15:09
Speaker 2: During during the time when I.
15:10
Speaker 3: Was selected, and I just knew in my heart, I'm like, wow,
15:12
Speaker 3: I'm like, when I have the capacity, I want to
15:15
Speaker 3: make sure that storybook Treasures has a Teacher of the
15:18
Speaker 3: Year and so so the first time that again, like
15:23
Speaker 3: you said, you know, I'm an educator. I know a
15:25
Speaker 3: whole lot about education, and then you go into the
15:27
Speaker 3: nonprofit space, that's a learning process.
15:29
Speaker 2: You have to figure it out.
15:30
Speaker 3: It's a whole different fees and it's the same thing
15:32
Speaker 3: with doing an award.
15:33
Speaker 2: It sounds easy enough, but we had.
15:36
Speaker 3: To jump through a few So so I'm just so
15:38
Speaker 3: grateful for my team, Kim an Alley, because they really
15:42
Speaker 3: helped pull this together.
15:43
Speaker 2: I mean, it was not an.
15:44
Speaker 3: Easy feed and and to be able to market this out.
15:48
Speaker 3: And so what we did is we did a nationwide,
15:54
Speaker 3: a nationwide outreach for a Storybook Treasure Teacher of the Year.
15:57
Speaker 3: And it didn't have to be anyone that was using
15:59
Speaker 3: our program. It could be any teacher that's doing amazing
16:03
Speaker 3: things with children and and with with Carolyn, you know.
16:06
Speaker 3: And I was not on the judging panel, so that
16:09
Speaker 3: was not part.
16:10
Speaker 2: I did not select her.
16:11
Speaker 3: But but it's so wonderful to have Carolyn be the
16:15
Speaker 3: first recipient because she has been with Storyborg Treasures for
16:19
Speaker 3: for several several years and and and she started out
16:23
Speaker 3: at at one school which We connected with her through
16:29
Speaker 3: the Decca at one of our local high school.
16:32
Speaker 2: So the Decca Decca Team a high school organization.
16:38
Speaker 3: They're the ones who said, hey, you know, we have
16:40
Speaker 3: a school that we would like to help support, and
16:43
Speaker 3: together they used our Storybok Treasures as their platform for
16:46
Speaker 3: a competition.
16:47
Speaker 2: And and then we connected.
16:48
Speaker 3: With Carolyn O'Neill and and through Grant we we were
16:52
Speaker 3: able to start our first program with her, and she
16:55
Speaker 3: fell in love. And I remember meeting with her the
16:57
Speaker 3: first time, and she was like, what is this? And
17:01
Speaker 3: every time I would tell her more and more, she
17:03
Speaker 3: would just light up. She's like, oh my gosh, this
17:05
Speaker 3: is amazing, Oh my gosh, Like this is fantastic. And
17:08
Speaker 3: she was really like, You're going to give all of
17:11
Speaker 3: my kids books and and I'm going to get a lesson.
17:13
Speaker 3: I'm like yes, and and so that was our first
17:15
Speaker 3: meeting and then and then it's it's just grown from there.
17:18
Speaker 3: She changed from from that school district to a to
17:21
Speaker 3: a different school district to Stafford County and a Parkerrage Elementary,
17:26
Speaker 3: and we continued working with her and and then when
17:30
Speaker 3: when our judges gave us the winner, I cried. I
17:37
Speaker 3: just knew, you know, she's just such a special teacher
17:40
Speaker 3: and such a special educator, and and and not only that,
17:45
Speaker 3: she believes in storybook Treasures and and when in the
17:49
Speaker 3: application there was a letter that was written by her colleagues,
17:53
Speaker 3: of course she had to present to the application her
17:56
Speaker 3: impact on literacy and and to me, I don't think our.
18:01
Speaker 2: Judges could have picked a better recipient.
18:03
Speaker 1: God standing, God standing. I can see how excited you
18:06
Speaker 1: we're with giving that inaugural award. And this is a
18:08
Speaker 1: great segue, so here's my conversation with Carolyn O'Neill right now.
18:12
Speaker 4: Good morning, Carolyn, Good morning Dennis.
18:15
Speaker 1: Congratulations on winning the inaugural award as Teacher of the
18:17
Speaker 1: Year for Storybook Treasures. I imagine that you're honored, maybe surprised.
18:22
Speaker 1: I don't know we can talk about that, but congratulations.
18:25
Speaker 4: Thank you so much. Yes, I was very surprised.
18:28
Speaker 1: Tell me about what this award means to you. I
18:30
Speaker 1: know there's one thousand dollars. It's always cool when teachers
18:33
Speaker 1: and schools get money. That's always a big bonus. But
18:35
Speaker 1: what does it mean to you?
18:37
Speaker 5: Just the involvement with storybout Treasures has been amazing and
18:41
Speaker 5: such an experience to go through and then to be
18:45
Speaker 5: acknowledged as someone that does well with it was extra
18:48
Speaker 5: special and it was wonderful. They did the award in
18:53
Speaker 5: front of the whole school during the kindergarten graduation ceremony,
18:57
Speaker 5: our celebration ceremony, and I actually gave back, even though
19:02
Speaker 5: it was a wonderful amount. I gave some of that
19:04
Speaker 5: back to Storybook Treasures because I really believe in this
19:07
Speaker 5: program and wanted to help.
19:10
Speaker 4: Keep it going, and it was just extra special.
19:12
Speaker 5: And then I put the rest into classroom supplies and
19:15
Speaker 5: took my family out to dinner.
19:17
Speaker 1: That is wonderful. I love that. So everybody wins. And
19:20
Speaker 1: you paid it back forward too, so that is wonderful.
19:23
Speaker 1: You know, I'd love to hear your opinion, because you know,
19:26
Speaker 1: how we all feel about teachers, especially on community seeing
19:29
Speaker 1: this program, is that you're underpaid, your overworked, blah blah blah.
19:33
Speaker 1: You know the story. But we love what you do,
19:35
Speaker 1: and I know you work with kindergartens, which is a
19:37
Speaker 1: real special age. But reading is so important and we've
19:41
Speaker 1: heard over the years about you know, how people aren't
19:43
Speaker 1: reading books as much as it used to tell me
19:46
Speaker 1: about what Storybook Treasures means to you, this teacher of
19:50
Speaker 1: the year, your children and the age that you teach.
19:52
Speaker 1: I know that could be its own podcast for thirty minutes,
19:55
Speaker 1: but tell us a little bit about that.
19:56
Speaker 5: Yes, kindergarteners come in, some from preschool, some not, some
20:01
Speaker 5: head start. It's just all kinds of backgrounds, and we
20:03
Speaker 5: give them a survey at the beginning of the year
20:06
Speaker 5: the parents that they fill out and tell. One of
20:09
Speaker 5: the questions is how many books do you have at home?
20:12
Speaker 5: And some of them have the area zero to five checked.
20:17
Speaker 5: So many of the students at this school, or my
20:22
Speaker 5: previous school especially it didn't have a home library. And
20:27
Speaker 5: so Storybook Treasures brings classic and also current books that
20:32
Speaker 5: are just wonderful and engaging to the home. So we
20:36
Speaker 5: teach it for a week in school and with those
20:39
Speaker 5: five year olds, they end up experts on the book
20:42
Speaker 5: on the standards. It's hitting every one of our lessons
20:46
Speaker 5: hits either art or science, different types of literacy lessons,
20:53
Speaker 5: all combined to make the students experts by the end.
20:56
Speaker 4: Of the week the best for the classroom use.
21:00
Speaker 5: The program is set up using PowerPoint slides and it
21:05
Speaker 5: just walks the teachers in the class right through.
21:07
Speaker 4: It's super engaging.
21:09
Speaker 5: The students when they see it's a storybook treasures week
21:13
Speaker 5: gets so excited and the treasure, especially at the end
21:17
Speaker 5: of the week when they get to take home, really
21:19
Speaker 5: seals the deal for them. The boxes that Denise sends
21:23
Speaker 5: to us, huge boxes, six full of every kind of supply,
21:27
Speaker 5: and the kids you would think it was their birthday
21:30
Speaker 5: the way they react when these supplies come in. Once
21:32
Speaker 5: they realize after the first bat that we do what's coming.
21:37
Speaker 4: It enhances any literacy program. But I mean, I wish
21:42
Speaker 4: we just had it every day. But yeah, it's just amazing.
21:46
Speaker 1: Well, that's huge, And I also would love to hear
21:48
Speaker 1: about feedback. And I don't know how much you've heard
21:50
Speaker 1: from the faculty and parents on this award, and I know,
21:55
Speaker 1: like everybody else and you guys know it. Intimately, we're
21:57
Speaker 1: talking to Denise about this about she's feeling a really
21:59
Speaker 1: low gap that's missing probably in every school in America,
22:03
Speaker 1: about more books, more reading, having these kind of partnerships.
22:06
Speaker 1: What kind of feedback are you getting from everybody?
22:08
Speaker 4: My team and.
22:10
Speaker 5: My team at my other school too loved it and
22:13
Speaker 5: said that they notice because the students are so engaged,
22:17
Speaker 5: and because the lessons bring out student discourse and ways
22:22
Speaker 5: to teach that to five year olds. How do you
22:24
Speaker 5: have a conversation about your opinion or about your connection?
22:29
Speaker 5: And it's completely built into the lessons, and that teaches
22:33
Speaker 5: these little kids to engage with each other about that.
22:38
Speaker 5: And then the parents see that at home because there's
22:40
Speaker 5: even a parent bookmark and a bilingual one.
22:44
Speaker 4: For parents to be able to talk to their children
22:46
Speaker 4: about it.
22:46
Speaker 5: And then we hear from parents all the time how
22:49
Speaker 5: kids are revisiting this book throughout the year years later.
22:53
Speaker 5: It's just fantastic. And everyone gets a shirt, a T
22:56
Speaker 5: shirt that says story about Treasures. I love that cute graphic.
23:00
Speaker 5: Kids wear them forever because you know, for years kindergarten,
23:04
Speaker 5: first grade, second grade, and they're so proud of it.
23:07
Speaker 4: And when they see any of the kindergarten.
23:09
Speaker 5: Teachers in the hall, you know, they're big smiles and
23:11
Speaker 5: thumbs up, like, yep, I'm still rocking Storybook Treasures.
23:14
Speaker 4: Well, they're so proud.
23:15
Speaker 1: That's huge. Well, listen, I'm glad you were featured on
23:18
Speaker 1: this program but also acknowledged as Teacher of the Year
23:21
Speaker 1: for Storybook treasures in this inaugural Teacher of the Year award.
23:24
Speaker 1: And I know you know this, and so does Denise.
23:27
Speaker 1: There are thousands of Carolyn's out there that are working
23:30
Speaker 1: their tails off but needing that extra help and that
23:33
Speaker 1: you're acknowledged, and the kids and the parents and the
23:35
Speaker 1: faculty when and the school too, it's just wonderful. So
23:37
Speaker 1: congratulations on the award, and thank you so much for
23:40
Speaker 1: joining us at Community DC. We really appreciate it.
23:42
Speaker 4: Thank you so much well, Denise.
23:44
Speaker 1: I can see why you chose Carolyn. She is full
23:47
Speaker 1: of energy. She has to work with those little ones,
23:50
Speaker 1: the kindergarteners, But I could see, like when you won
23:53
Speaker 1: your award, how special it meant to her, the faculty,
23:57
Speaker 1: the school to be acknowledged, the thousand dollars and her
23:59
Speaker 1: generosity to give little money back, which is really cool.
24:02
Speaker 1: But we also talked with her about that whole in
24:04
Speaker 1: the industry where you come in to get books where
24:07
Speaker 1: they don't have them for the kids and to start
24:09
Speaker 1: reading early age, and how it can really profoundly change
24:13
Speaker 1: for the better a classroom but also a school in general.
24:16
Speaker 1: And congratulations on giving that out because, as you mentioned,
24:20
Speaker 1: just a few minutes ago. It's hard to put these
24:22
Speaker 1: things together to give a teacher for the year word
24:24
Speaker 1: no matter what you're doing, but I can see why
24:26
Speaker 1: you gave it to Carolyn. Very special stuff.
24:29
Speaker 3: Well, thank you, and she is she's just so wonderful,
24:33
Speaker 3: and you know, just her passion and her energy in
24:35
Speaker 3: the classroom and hearing.
24:39
Speaker 2: I think to me some of the.
24:41
Speaker 3: Best feedback you can have as an educators when you're
24:44
Speaker 3: colleagues are acknowledging you know what a great impact you
24:49
Speaker 3: have on you.
24:50
Speaker 2: Know, the students, the school and also them and so so.
24:53
Speaker 3: Part of her application packet she had numerous accolades from
24:58
Speaker 3: her colleagues, which we're just so wonderful to read through.
25:02
Speaker 3: She is just a dynamic teacher and believe so strongly
25:06
Speaker 3: in literacy and making sure that kids at an early
25:09
Speaker 3: level can read, because it truly sets that foundation of education.
25:13
Speaker 3: You know, if kids can read, then they're going to
25:16
Speaker 3: be able to access all the other opportunities available.
25:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's well said, and not that you needed to
25:22
Speaker 1: solidify your choice from the people that did that, but
25:25
Speaker 1: you can see why she wanted and that's wonderful. So
25:28
Speaker 1: congratulations on giving that inaugural War to Carolyn O'Neil, I
25:31
Speaker 1: do want to do this because we only have a
25:33
Speaker 1: handful of minutes left, and I know that funding is
25:35
Speaker 1: a real big deal. I want to find out right
25:37
Speaker 1: now how you're funded and how people can be a
25:39
Speaker 1: part of it. We have small, medium, large businesses that
25:42
Speaker 1: listen to this program all the time to see if
25:43
Speaker 1: they can help nonprofits out there. So a how are
25:46
Speaker 1: you funded? And then how can people out there help
25:49
Speaker 1: you in Storybook Treasures.
25:50
Speaker 3: So we're always looking for partnerships and we're always looking
25:54
Speaker 3: for donations to support our neediest schools, and so a
25:57
Speaker 3: lot of times our partners they well, they'll have a
26:01
Speaker 3: specific school that they want to work with, and then
26:04
Speaker 3: we want to give all of those partners businesses recognition
26:07
Speaker 3: and thanks for supporting those schools.
26:10
Speaker 2: So that's one way.
26:12
Speaker 3: Of course, we always take donations to support our mission, and.
26:20
Speaker 2: That could be done on our website.
26:21
Speaker 3: So our website is it really gives great information about
26:26
Speaker 3: Storybook Treasurers and what we do on our mission and
26:29
Speaker 3: some of the schools that we work with, and that's
26:32
Speaker 3: at Storybook Treasures Dot work.
26:35
Speaker 1: And then let's do this for a listeners. So we're
26:37
Speaker 1: very clear about it, because I know you have a
26:39
Speaker 1: net where you've spread about what kind of areas you
26:42
Speaker 1: live in. So how big is the net of schools
26:45
Speaker 1: that you work with to make sure that when we
26:47
Speaker 1: get people that want to reach out to you, that
26:48
Speaker 1: they kind of know the area they're working with.
26:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, so we can actually work with any school and
26:55
Speaker 3: so we're Northern Virginia based, but we work with schools
26:59
Speaker 3: all the way out on Alaska understanding and that's that's
27:03
Speaker 3: the beauty.
27:03
Speaker 2: Of this program.
27:04
Speaker 3: And you know, we we can go to any school
27:07
Speaker 3: anywhere in the nation and and and part of the
27:11
Speaker 3: process would be connecting with the school making sure that
27:15
Speaker 3: we have the funding to support the program. And then
27:18
Speaker 3: once we have that, then we work directly with the
27:20
Speaker 3: schools and the teachers to make sure that they understand
27:23
Speaker 3: what they're getting with the program is all about, and
27:25
Speaker 3: then how how they can make that impact with.
27:28
Speaker 1: Their with their children out Standing. I'm going to have
27:30
Speaker 1: you give the website one more time, but before we
27:32
Speaker 1: do that, are there any events, fundraisers, or anything else
27:35
Speaker 1: that people know about that's coming up? I know what
27:37
Speaker 1: kind of it's a year round thing for you and
27:39
Speaker 1: all the people you work with. But is there anything
27:41
Speaker 1: coming up that we need to kind of make sure
27:43
Speaker 1: that we put the spotlight on.
27:46
Speaker 3: So that's part of our my scrappy teacher business that
27:50
Speaker 3: we we have. We host packing events to pack our
27:54
Speaker 3: materials with local high schools.
27:56
Speaker 2: So our next packing event is in December.
27:58
Speaker 3: So it's December eighth at Briarwoods High School and that's
28:02
Speaker 3: in Lodin County and it's typically after school, so we'll
28:05
Speaker 3: we'll have about fifty volunteers student volunteers that come out.
28:08
Speaker 3: It's usually the NHS and also it's the Key Club
28:15
Speaker 3: and other clubs where students look for volunteer hours. So
28:20
Speaker 3: we'll do a packing about right at the school so
28:22
Speaker 3: the students can receive volunteer hours, they learned a little
28:26
Speaker 3: bit about nonprofit work, they learn a little bit about literacy,
28:30
Speaker 3: and then they pack our all of our materials for us.
28:32
Speaker 1: And you know, making the kids work for a living,
28:34
Speaker 1: good job. Yeah.
28:36
Speaker 3: And then the other thing is that we're willing to
28:39
Speaker 3: too out to businesses to do partner volunteer partner events
28:43
Speaker 3: with businesses too, So that's another opportunity as well, so
28:46
Speaker 3: that an organization can get to know storybook treasures a
28:50
Speaker 3: little bit more about what we do and then and
28:53
Speaker 3: then get their hands dirty with with packing our books
28:56
Speaker 3: and kids.
28:57
Speaker 1: I love it. Let's give the website one more time, Denise.
29:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's storybook Treasures dot org.
29:03
Speaker 1: It's Tanning listen. It's great to see and talk with
29:05
Speaker 1: you again. And it really was nice to chat with
29:08
Speaker 1: Carolyn O'Neil. I know that you're thrilled to she'se your
29:10
Speaker 1: inaugural Teacher of the Year. Just very cool. You're doing
29:14
Speaker 1: great work. I know it's hard sometimes, but you're changing
29:18
Speaker 1: lives out there, and that's all you can ask when
29:20
Speaker 1: it comes to nonprofits that we talk to. So thank
29:23
Speaker 1: you so much. Love to have you back anytime. Continue success,
29:26
Speaker 1: and we really appreciate you joining us on Community DC great.
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