HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton Rotary Club met for its regular luncheon meeting on Monday Oct. 30, with Rotarian Craig Bean hosting the guest speakers for the week. Bean welcomed Katie Fitzpatrick and Janet Murakami from the Literacy Group at Houlton Elementary and Southside schools and Laurie Soucy and her daughter Bailey representing “Crown C.A.R.E.S.”
Murakami is the literacy coach of HES and Southside School. She is a 1974 graduate of Houlton High School continuing her education at the Friends World College of Long Island, New York where she studied Anthropology and later earned her master’s degree in 1990. Murakami has been at HES and Southside School for 11 years. She is also enjoying a bumblebee study with Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Fitzpatrick is a second grade teacher at HES. She is also a graduate of Houlton High School and went onto earn her degree in education with psychology as a minor degree. Fitzpatrick has been teaching for 15 years.
Literacy was the focus of the Oct. 30 meeting of the Houlton Rotary Club. Janet Murakami, left, literacy coach from Houlton schools and Katie Fitzpatrick, right, teacher from Houlton Southside School were the guests of Rotarian Craig Bean.
(Courtesy of Nate Bodenstab)
Murakami spoke about the literacy efforts as Houlton is above the state average and the program continues even though the grant that began the work ended five years ago. As to why people volunteer to help with literacy she mentioned the improvement of oral language for students and more fluent language skills. Often students have no one to read to them at home. Fitzpatrick spoke about the effects of reading and re-reading text to learn to comprehend the material so the students learn and don’t know they are learning.
Having Rotarians like Mr. Bean and Mr. “Paul” read to students is important for the students to have male role models as most of the teachers are female and often there is no male parent or grandparent in their lives.One on one experiences make the student feel special and valued.
There are upcoming opportunities for Rotarians to volunteer with Literacy. In December there is “Read Aloud” with Pre-K, Kindergarten and first-grade classes. February and March bring “Read Across America” to honor Dr. Seuss. It is proven that reading 15 minutes a day can bring success. For more information contact janet.murakami@rsu29.org.
Bean next introduced Laurie Soucy, who is a kindergarten teacher at HES. Soucy presented the background information on “Crown CARES” by explaining that it is not a beauty contest. Instead, it is an organization that has a mission to foster awareness for a bullying free environment. The Cross Roads Youth Center is in Saco and is the headquarters for the program. Soucy introduced her daughter Bailey as the 2018 USA National Miss Maine Princess. Bailey described the imbalance of power that bullying creates with intentional repetitive behavior. The way to stop it is with acceptance, kindness, forgiveness and respect.
Bailey is excited to compete next July in Orlando, Florida. She is involved with the community raising funds for the center by sponsorships. October was National Bullying Month. For more information, the website for the organization is www.crowncares.org.
