Projects & Programs | Friends and Volunteers

At the Intersection of Joy and Learning

A grape stem, a carrot, a metal jar lid and a ballerina sprite, a floating ghost sprite accompanied by classical music, a selfie & a sprite, a sprite falling through the black hole—what do these have to do with creativity & learning? Each of these items was integral to the projects designed by parents and children in Session 2 of the Family Creative Learning Workshop.

About the Learning

You HAD to be there. Just imagine the cooperation and collaboration & creativity as parents designed with parents and children designed with children—programming sprites from Scratch and controlling those sprites through the connection to MakeyMakey kits. Problem solving, trial and error, if-then, risk taking, critical and computational skills, pride in accomplishment, and the aforementioned cooperation and collaboration were needed and evident in the projects presented. And, most importantly, the gift of time parents are giving to children as they learn and work together on something new…it’s Priceless!

Up Next…

At the October 7 session families will brainstorm their final projects that will be on display at the October 21 Community Showcase. All are invited. Details to follow.

View pictures and a video of Session 2 by scrolling to the bottom of this page to <Flickr Photos> and clicking on <More Photos>.

Meet us…

At the Intersection of Joy and Learning

You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child.

Dr. Seuss

Monday, March 3, 2014 many schools celebrated Read Across America in honor of the birthday (actual birthday—March 2) of Dr. Theodor Seuss Geisel—better known as Dr. Seuss. Read Across America began in 1997 as a way to celebrate Reading! Each year The Friends and Volunteers of the Ocean City Free Public Library (F&V)—along with community members—look forward to reading to K-3 Ocean City Primary School and Head Start students. Well, this year, Mother Nature intervened and the gift of snow thwarted our plans!

The F&V Read Across America BackStory…

This beloved F&V project requires lots of planning, coordination, and teamwork. Reading to the children is the highlight, but would not be possible without…

Collaborating with the Ocean City Free Public Library (OCFPL)…Children’s Librarian, Leslie Clarke & F&V member, Pam Hepner, select books (3 different titles for each grade & Head Start)
Ordering and receiving the books…funds come from F&V book sales
Creating and copying letters to parents
Gathering the bookmarks and book bags donated by the OCFPL
Making Nameplates for each book
Dividing books into grade levels, and then sub-dividing them into classrooms.
Gathering grocery bags and boxes to hold the books as well as make the delivery to the school & classrooms so much easier…
This year, on February 24, F&V volunteers—under the direction of Barbara Riggione, Read Across America Chairperson—met at the OCFPL to…
Place a nameplate into each book
Place the letter to Parents and a bookmark inside each book
Put a prepared book into a book bag
Put the number of book bags needed for each classroom into a grocery bag marked with the name of the teacher and the number of students
Place the classroom-ready bags into a larger box, and then…
Transport the boxes to Barbara Riggione’s car for eventual delivery to the school…but this year, we were lucky…

Ken Riggione showed up just in time to assist with the loading of the boxes into Barbara’s car. And, local firefighters—who were waiting for a meeting—generously offered to help! While we didn’t get to read to the students, we hope each student will enjoy this gift and will continue to develop a love for READING!