December 2021 - Reading Quest Newsletter

Dear Friend of Reading Quest,
Thank you for giving the gift of a brighter future to our striving readers!

The demand for our services has grown exponentially, and support from you makes our work possible. Your generous donations have allowed Reading Quest to shine a bright light on under-served students who need professional reading support.

Looking back on this year, we exceeded our goals by introducing new programs, reaching more students for reading support, training more teachers, parents, and tutors, and securing grants that will make a lasting impact. We tutored hundreds of students successfully online last year and have now enthusiastically transitioned back to in-person tutoring for most of our students in school and at our center.

In August, Reading Quest was awarded the SONY Create Action Grant for our work with underserved communities in need. Reading Quest received a $50,000 grant to continue and expand our work, $50,000 in Sony Electronics products to support our teaching videos and summer films, a collaboration and partnership with Sony, and this film which shares our story.
We hope you enjoy this great film SONY made for us. Please take a moment to watch and share it with someone who loves to read!
The Story of Reading Quest | Sony Create Action
Reading Quest now has 22 reading specialists and 8 teen tutors serving over 300 students every week, and our waiting list continues to grow each day. We support teachers, parents and local tutors with our coaching, reading workshops, and engaging resources - all grounded in the science of reading. We partner and serve children in Santa Fe and West Las Vegas Public Schools, Native American Student Services, the Emergency Youth Shelter, Communities in Schools, and the Adelante program for homeless families.

Last year, Reading Quest provided over 10,000 hours of reading support and hosted three summer Reading is Magic Camps, including one for middle school students. Students have made, on average, one years’ growth during each two-week camp for the past ten years. 
Click here to see our Session 3 summer camp film, The Quest for the Missing Angels, filmed and edited by Fox Clan Productions, an amazing local Native owned film company. ​
The Quest for the Missing Angels
Reading Quest students take home thousands of books of their choice  each year, and we continue to deliver books to the homes of many of our students.
We have begun planning for a powerful three-year pilot program during which we will serve ALL 1st - 3rd grade students in need of reading support in one or two southside Title 1 schools. We received LANL Foundation funding for NMSU’s Southwest Outreach Academic Research (SOAR) Evaluation & Policy Center program to conduct an outside evaluation, and we ask for your support to help us demonstrate this model of sustainable, lasting change for our children.
 
Join us on our journey of literacy and magic! Help us empower our striving readers so they not only gain a love for reading, but also have the freedom to dream and make a lasting impact in our world and our future. 
 
Our work would not be possible without the compassion and generosity all of you have shown in supporting our community. 
 
Thank you for giving the gift of reading!
 
With gratitude,
Rayna Dineen, Executive Director, the Reading Quest Board of Directors, and Reading Quest Staff
TESTIMONIALS

​This service is needed for so many students in Santa Fe. Literacy is a social justice issue. If a student cannot read, he or she becomes very limited in life. We have an obligation to our community to support literacy for all students! Please support our students and support Reading Quest!
 ~ Lisa Moyer, Santa Fe Public School Teacher & Reading Quest parent
 
Thank you Reading Quest for your support to Native American families,  We would not be able to afford to hire a tutor for the girls, and along with their learning, also come confidences, which will be needed throughout their education and lives!  Askqwali!  Naytra!  (Thank you in Hopi and Cochiti languages)
~ Reading Quest parent
Thank you for your Support!
  • $50 provides books, reading prizes and supplies for a child for a year
  • $120 provides a stipend for a teen tutor working 12 hours with a younger student
  • $250 provides a week of intensive summer reading camp for 1 child (40-45 hours)
  • $420 provides high quality weekly tutoring for 2 children for a semester
  • $840 provides tutoring for two children for a school year
  • $1,000 funds a literacy workshop for local tutors and teachers
  • $4,000 funds tutoring for 8 children for the school year

It's not too late to make a difference in the life of a child! ​


“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”  
​
~ Frederick Douglass
Photos from our recent Winter Wonderland Book & Toy Giveaway

Summer 2021 - Reading Quest September Newsletter

The summer of 2021 was a joyous return to in-person Reading is Magic Camp for 60 Santa Fe Public School students and continued online tutoring for students in need across northern New Mexico. For the first time, in addition to our summer camps, we also provided over  577 hours of free one-on-one tutoring for 90 students this summer. Our summer programming total was 4,707 hours for children in need of reading support!

Our Reading is Magic campers had the time of their lives as they made new friends and experienced the fun and power of cracking the code of reading in English. 100% of parents expressed extreme satisfaction in all aspects of the camp on our feedback forms. Here are a few parent comments:

Thank you so much. My son didn't want the camp to end and it was a wonderful experience for him. (translated from Spanish)

I just wanted to say thank you for putting on such a great program for the kids! My child had such an amazing time. I've honestly never seen him so enthusiastic about a school/learning program. He loved it every day and wishes it was longer. Thank you again for your hard work and for a memorable summer camp!

Thank you all very much for the excellent work with the children. We loved the videos and how the children learned so much but also had fun. (translated from Spanish)

My child’s reading and confidence grew so much in just two weeks!
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Including this summer, students made, on average, one years’ growth during each two-week camp for the past 10 years. Click here to see this year’s summer camp data report. 

Our experienced team of reading specialists and college and high school tutors guided each student along the Royal Road by engaging them in games, songs, sign language, art projects, archery, film writing, and performing - all designed to support improving reading skills, social emotional learning, teamwork, and confidence. 
All of our summer campers and students received books of their choice to take home; we gave away hundreds of books to campers and delivered books to our online students at home. We are very grateful to op.cit books,Garcia Street Books and the Darian Book Aid Plan for their ongoing support of our program! Thank you to everyone who donated children’s books for our students! 
You can watch slideshows featuring images from the wide range of activities at each camp, including a middle-ages themed concert provided by the Santa Fe Symphony during our third camp session, and reading to Little Horse Listener’s miniature horses. 

Each camp created their own ‘Reader’s Theater’ movie which was filmed and edited by Fox Clan productions, a local Native American-owned film company.  

Our Middle School camp film, ‘Kingdom of the Magic Firefoxes’, can be seen on our website HERE and onYouTube HERE.

The other two camp session movies will also be available for viewing soon on our website and on YouTube. 
Reading Quest also gave $9,000 in financial assistance to our families to assist them with rent, utilities, and wifi bills during the pandemic this past spring and summer, thanks to designated donations we received for this purpose. 

We are very grateful to our summer funders and sponsors: Santa Fe Public Schools, The Bingaman Foundation, The Nickoloff Foundation, Anchorum St. Vincent, Santa Fe Kiwanis Foundation, LANL Foundation, the CWG Reading Group, Las Campanas Community Fund, the Stillpoint Fund, DWI & Teen Court of Santa Fe County, and our partner and host, Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences.
SONY CREATE ACTION GRANT            
​Reading Quest just received the wonderful news that we are the recipient of a SONY Create Action Grant!

From the Sony Website: “Reading Quest will receive $50,000 in cash to continue and expand their work, a custom short film telling their story, $50,000 in Sony Electronics products to support their action plan, and collaboration and partnership with Sony."

A quote from their announcement says: “The dedication of Reading Quest and its commitment to support the youth of Santa Fe makes them an excellent choice to receive this Create Action Grant. Through Create Action, Sony will be working with Reading Quest on the mutual goal of creating lasting positive change within the communities we serve and to amplify Reading Quest’s efforts through funding, storytelling and collaboration.”
Fall Tutoring Workshops        
In addition to our ongoing free Reading Tutor Training workshops for parents, teachers, and tutors, we also provided Structured Literacy Workshops that include social emotional support, trauma sensitive support, and hands-on learning for over 500 teachers in Santa Fe and West Las Vegas.
Looking Forward to a New School Year
Thanks to our strong partnership with Santa Fe Public Schools, we will be providing one-on-one tutoring during the school day at several southside schools.  In addition, we will provide tutoring for Monte del Sol middle school students during the school day and the SFPS online Desert Sage Academy. We will also provide reading support for students from all Santa Fe public schools during after school time and on the weekend - and virtually when needed. 

We are very grateful for funding from the Hestia Foundation, County of SF DWI, The Anchorum Foundation, and the Thornburg Foundation. 

We are particularly grateful to Growing Up New Mexico for their generous donation of our beautiful center space in their Early Childhood Center.
How You Can Help
We have hundreds of students on our referral list - students in need of our services - and we are requesting your help to raise $30,000 in order to begin to meet the need! All donations will be matched dollar for dollar up to $10,000 thanks to a generous donation from City Different Investments.
We are ready to begin the school year tutoring 250 students every week; however, the need is much greater than that. Many of the students being referred to us now missed quite a bit of school last year, according to their teachers, and many have as-of-yet undiagnosed learning disabilities. 

It’s been an amazing year of growth and success during an incredibly challenging time for all of us! With the help of our sponsors and supporters, Reading Quest will continue to expand our program and increase reading proficiency in our community! ​
How You Can Help
Reading Quest is a non-profit organization which provides tutoring services regardless of ability to pay, and workshops and coaching for teachers in grades K-8. We are grateful to our grantors and donors who make it possible to serve all the students in our community. The following logos represent our generous funders during 2020-2021.

September 15, 2020 - Reading Quest September Newsletter

Dear Friends of Reading Quest,             

Thank you to everyone who has been supporting Reading Quest during this very challenging time for all of us. Children who struggle with reading are finding this time especially difficult as much of their schooling consists of online worksheets and reading material that is often quite hard for them.

Every child has the right to learn how to read. Reading Quest provides free reading support for the children who need it the most. Sixty-seven (67%) of children in Santa Fe are not reading proficiently at grade level and every one of them would benefit from the individualized support Reading Quest provides. Children who struggle with reading are particularly in need of extra support right now!

​HELP READING QUEST RESPOND TO COVID 19 ONLINE SCHOOLING BY PROVIDING REMOTE TUTORING
​for high-priority students who are struggling with home-based learning.
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Reaching Out to Others in Need

​Your contribution will allow Reading Quest to continue to serve hundreds of students every week and provide reading workshops for teachers, tutors and parents.
 
Your support makes a difference!
In 2020, thanks to supporters like you, Reading Quest has:

  • Tutored 300 children a week  in our Reading Quest and summer ‘Reading is Wild’ programs
Reading Quest Student Reflections
  • Delivered more than 800 bags of books, art supplies and prizes to children’s homes​​
  • Provided Workshops on Teaching Reading online for 300 SFPS and charter school teachers

  • Facilitated free parent and tutor workshops

  • Collaborated with CYFD to provide 1500 books to foster children around the state

  • Created original reading games which can be played online or in person (Our Reading Quest store is NOW OPEN!)

  • Created teaching videos for children learning how to read (Check out our Video Library on our website)

  • Braulio, our 7th grade Reading Quest Ambassador in Training, raised hundreds of dollars for Food Depot and was featured in Parade and Scholastic Magazines.

Upcoming Events

Song, Rap and Poem Contest for all students in Santa Fe grades 1-12. Flyers in English and Spanish attached. Write a song, rap or poem about a book you read and loved. Entries can be in any language, including American Sign Language (ASL). 
 
Online Team-Building Games & Energizers for Elementary School Teachers
Saturday, October 17th and Saturday, November 7th
10:00 - 11:00 a.m. on Zoom
These fun, interactive workshops are limited to the first 20 teachers who register. $30 stipend for public school teachers.

Teaching Reading Online: For teachers with beginning
or struggling readers
Part 1: Sunday, October 25, 1:00-4:00 Part 2: Sunday, November 8th 1:00-4:00; $75 stipends per workshop for SFPS teachers.
 
Creating in Color: Voices of the African Diaspora
A 10-week creative writing club offered for free on Zoom for Black teens ages 13-18 who love to write.
​​

A Parent Testimonial

​My son absolutely loves Reading Quest. Within a month I saw so much improvement. He started to read again for fun. Every week he looked forward to his sessions with his tutor. His teacher was amazed with his progress and started to refer her other students to this program.   When this pandemic hit our states I was worried that he would fall behind again. But Reading Quest made an effort to have online sessions with my son. This program has been a blessing! My son has found joy in reading again and is now above his grade level in reading. My younger son constantly asks when he can start Reading Quest. I'm am beyond grateful for the amazing work they do. Our state needs programs like this to ensure kids can get the help that they need!  Thank you so much Reading Quest!

—Marissa Saiz Reading Quest Parent 
​​

Thank you to the following organizations for their support of Reading Quest:

May 13, 2020 - Reading Quest Keeps on Reading

Dear Friends of Reading Quest,

​Thank you to everyone who has been supporting Reading Quest during this very challenging time for all of us. Children who struggle with reading are finding this time especially difficult as much of their schooling consists of online worksheets and reading material that is often quite hard for them; and they are not able to be with their friends.
 
Our Reading Quest team has been working incredibly hard to serve 200 students every week who are in need of extra reading support. We have created a very effective program of exciting, online reading activities, virtual field trips and games which our students are loving! A major message to each child is “You are important!”
 
Nothing can replace the power of face to face relationships, but we are doing our best to create a magical online experience for our students and we are now gearing up for our new virtual summer program called, Reading is Wild!

​Supporting Teachers and Parents

"This training teaches us to think outside the box. Thank you for spreading the reading love. Your tutors are fabulous!"

"Thank you for one of the most enjoyable trainings I have ever had."

"The training gave me, as a parent, solid information and tools that I can take home with me to empower my children."

These are quotes from grateful teachers and parents who recently attended a Reading Quest online workshop.
 
The need to move our work online has sparked us to produce numerous online reading workshops this month for teachers at Southside Santa Fe elementary schools as well as for parents and tutors in other programs. The Reading Quest approach was highlighted in a national workshop for over a hundred educators with“Reading with TLC” and our resources are being shared nationwide.
​​

Reaching Out to Others in Need

Reading Quest recently partnered with Desiree Turner and the Children, Youth & Families Department to provide 1800 books foster children across the state. Through this donation, children will have books, even if they don’t have access to WiFi, their family members and friends during this time of quarantine. Shortly after giving away all of our back up books, we were gifted with several incredible boxes of books from local families and we trust that donations and gift certificates to local bookstores will continue to come in.
 
Thank you to our anonymous angel donors who are helping us support our families in need of wifi and support with bills!
 
Our Reading Quest Ambassador in Training, Braulio, a 6th grade student at Ortiz Middle School, was deeply moved upon hearing that many local families were in need of food and he decided to do something about it. Braulio has been making these kittens as his way of raising funds for Food Depot.
 
Just make a donation to Food Depot HERE and then come and pick up a kitten of your choice. Just email readingquestcenter@gmail.com after making your donation and we can arrange your kitten pickup.
​

Santa Fe Community Foundation

​We are sending a HUGE THANK YOU to the Santa Fe Community Foundation Covid-19 Fund who made it possible for us to deliver 30 sets of headphones to students who really need them.  Some of our students are living in crowded conditions with multiple families.  Being able to hear clearly during online lessons makes a big difference for these students. We are very grateful for their ongoing support which is also supporting us to continue to make our instructional reading videos!
Thank you! Please visit our website, readingquestcenter.org to see our reading resources.  Any support you can give would be especially helpful at this crucial time.

With gratitude,
Rayna Dineen, Executive Director
and the Reading Quest Staff & Board

March 30, 2020 - Reading Quest Reaching Out

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Dear Friends of Reading Quest,

All of us at Reading Quest are feeling very grateful that we are able to continue supporting our students during this time of school closures and sheltering in place. Our amazing team of tutors is excited and passionate about reaching out to the 300 students we tutor every week! We are also doing whatever we can to support parents and teachers during this challenging time of online learning!

As soon as we learned of the possibility of schools closing, we began preparing in case we were not going to be able to continue meeting with our students in the public schools or at our Reading Quest Center. We sent home books and other reading materials with many of our students before spring break and let parents know that we would continue tutoring no matter what. Now that the schools and our center are closed for the rest of the school year, we are happy to report that our early planning has really paid off and we are already working with students every day.

All of our staff have been working intensely to continue serving our students remotely via phones, computers and tablets. We have been able to connect with our students virtually and they are all very excited when we call, text or zoom. All of the students in our school district were sent home with Chrome books and tablets just before Spring Break (way to go SFPS!), and in response, we have set up our own online programs and online reading resources.  
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We are hoping that the promised hot spots come soon so that our students can access wifi in their homes. We have also been providing professional development for our staff so we can offer the highest level of online support possible. 

In addition, we have adjusted our previously scheduled workshops for teachers, tutors and parents so they can be offered as online webinars. Any parents or teachers who are feeling the need for more support can sign up for one of our free workshops. Santa Fe Public Schools has offered stipends for teachers who sign up! Reading Quest has been asked to do a national webinar in April via the Reading with TLC program. 
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We have made our videos available on our website and are planning to make more as soon as possible. We also plan to deliver books and other resources directly to our family’s homes when it is safe to do so. We are sharing community resources with our families on our website and connecting them with much needed support. 

If you would like to help support our work, here are a few options.
  • The Gift of Reading: Since we will be delivering books to our students, it would be wonderful if you could purchase a gift certificate from one of the local bookstores we partner with: op.cit, Big Star Books, Garcia Street Books, Beehive Books, and Collected Works Bookstore. This will also be a great help to our wonderful local bookstores. We already know which books we need at each store and they are graciously offering curbside pick up and delivery. 

  • Resources: Share our website and online reading resources! Spread the word about our upcoming online workshops and the TLC webinar for parents and teachers. We are also offering support for individual teachers.

  • And, of course, we are always grateful for your financial support! You can visit our website to donate any amount to help us through this challenging time HERE. Every little bit helps!
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​And a heartfelt thanks from our Board, our staff and all of our families for being a part of our caring Reading Quest family. This work is only possible thanks to each of you and we are very grateful. 

With appreciation,
Connor Brown, Board Chair
Rayna Dineen, Executive Director
and the Reading Quest Staff & Board 


I've been greatly humbled by and reminded of how important our work is, especially in this time. I've found myself in tears several times these past few weeks understanding how needed our Reading Quest team is, not only for our literacy support, but for our gentle care and attention to the needs our children and families have. The willingness and love I feel from parents is incredible. Our community needs the brilliance of the children we have the honor of working with and supporting them during a time of great need.  We, in return, are also being supported by amazing parents and caregivers.
​It's a gift for which there are no words.

—Faridah Ndiaye, Reading Quest Tutoror

Winter News 2019

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​Our new Reading Quest teaching videos are now in our video library and on youtube.  Thank you to our tutors and students who created these videos and thank you to Arin Dineen for her amazing editing work. 

Reading Quest Short Vowel Sound video

Reading Quest Magic e video
Holiday Giveaway!

Thank you to everyone
​who helped make our Holiday Giveaway a success!

We gave away over 800 books and toys, clothes and books to all of our Reading Quest kids and their siblings.