Mesquite Rotary Donates $2,500 to Retired Educators' Book Project

The Mesquite Rotary Club presented a donation of $2,500 to the Mesquite Association of Retired School Employees book project at their meeting on October 2ndt.  In accepting the check from Rotary president-elect John Taylor, MARSE president Elaine Whitlock expressed her thanks for Rotary’s assistance, and noted that the funds would greatly support the project’s goal of providing a book of their own to each Mesquite ISD first grader. 
MARSE book project chair Susan Cumby added her thanks for the funds, and for the volunteer assistance that Rotary members have provided for the project.  She also discussed ways that the project might further expand in ways to support the Mesquite ISD “Read, Play, Talk” initiative with new parents in the community, and additional targeted reading programs in other grade levels.
 
The MARSE book project has been an ongoing commitment since 1999. Each year they have been able to provide an increasing number of MISD first grade students with their own "take home" book.  The books are new ones, and they are specially selected to coordinate with the children’s reading curriculum in their schools.  The project is designed to promote the love of reading, the development of students’ personal book collections, and to assist in the development of the students’ reading skills.