The annual Communities in Schools of Federal Way’s Literacy Breakfast, held Feb. 24 at Christian Faith Center, raised about $43,000 for several education programs.
“We got a lot of people who said they were interested in mentoring now,” said Tracy Oster, organizer of the Literacy Breakfast. “The turnout was great. We’re very pleased.”
The money will go toward:
• PASS (Personal Academic Student Support) mentoring program. PASS helps youth of all ages improve their academic performance and commitment to completing their education. Mentors meet with students for 45 minutes to one hour every week for at least one school year.
• Summer Bridge K-2 program, a summer reading school that focuses on the fundamentals of reading.
• CORE (coordination of resources). This new program-in-progress will bring direct access to services for school counselors and nurses through a comprehensive database of agencies and service providers in the community.
• Roots and Wings, an after-school partnership between the Federal Way Senior Center and Lakeland Elementary School.
It costs $147 for one student to attend Summer Bridge, $233 to mentor one student for a year, and $856 to fund one school with CORE for a year, according to Communities in Schools.
Nearly 38 percent of Communities In Schools’ budget comes from the annual Literacy Breakfast.
Other highlights from the event:
• Longtime local sports broadcaster Tony Ventrella served as the event’s main speaker.
“You have proven by your presence today that your heart is in the right place, that your mind is the right place, and even in these challenging economic times, that your pocketbook is in the right place,” Ventrella told the crowd of about 420. “Thank you for helping us celebrate the achievements of the past, and realize the dreams of the present and the future.”
• Federal Way resident Pete Gonzales received the Mentor of the Year Award for his volunteer efforts to help Michael Velazquez and Jonathon Reyes, who are now students at Federal Way High School.
• Cathy Atkins, a band instructor at Todd Beamer High School, received the Teacher of the Year Award. “Atkins has mastered the concept of differentiation, as she addresses the challenges of each of her learners,” Todd Beamer School of Global Leadership and Economics principal Regina Hauptmann noted in her nomination of Atkins. She inspires her students, in the words of one of them, “to strive for more and to challenge themselves musically.”
• During the event, Sacajawea Middle School principal Randy Kaczor touted the success of the PASS mentoring program at his school.
• Federal Way Chamber CEO Tom Pierson explained the various services of Communities in Schools.
• To learn more about Communities in Schools, visit www.federalway.ciswa.org or call Tracy Oster at (253) 838-2605.
