Trinity College

Event to feature kids reading original literary works, panel discussion, and awards

HARTFORD, Conn., November 15, 2007 – “Building a Community of Readers,” an event celebrating literacy and local volunteers making a difference in Hartford through literacy outreach, will take place at Trinity College Thursday, November 29, from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Sponsored by ConnectiKids, the Greater Hartford Literacy Council, and Trinity College, with support from the Aetna Foundation, the celebration will be held at the Vernon Social Center, 114 Vernon Street, Hartford. The event is open to the public and begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m., followed by a panel discussion about literacy at 6 p.m., and an awards presentation at 7 p.m. Since space is limited, R.S.V.P. by November 26 to literacy.event@trincoll.edu or call 860-297-5332. For campus directions and parking availability, visit www.trincoll.edu.

Original literary works will be shared during the reception by a few of the 40 4th and 5th grade students who visit Trinity from M.D. Fox Elementary School every Thursday afternoon for tutoring/mentoring sessions formed in partnership between ConnectiKids and the Trinity English department’s Literature Club. During the weeks leading up to the celebration, the M.D. Fox students have worked with their tutors – 40 Trinity students and staff – to write their poems.

At 6 p.m., Robert F. Peltier, senior lecturer in the Allan K. Smith Center for Writing and Rhetoric at Trinity, will moderate a panel discussion featuring:
• Judy Carson, consultant, Connecticut State Department of Education
• Carl Guerriere, executive director of the Greater Hartford Literacy Council
• Destiany Hunter, ConnectiKids alumna and 11th grader at A.I. Prince Technical High School
• Michael Lorenzo, principal, M.D. Fox Elementary School

Individuals being honored at 7 p.m. for their literacy outreach efforts and accomplishments include:
• Miriam Epstein of Manchester, creator of “Books to Dreams,” a literacy program for children in homeless shelters and at soup kitchens
• Destiany Hunter of Hartford, a longtime participant in the ConnectiKids after-school program (now a ConnectiKids alumna), currently a junior at A.I. Prince Technical High School, and an excellent student who wants to become a lawyer and is involved in a variety of after-school activities
• Pamela Nomura of Chester, chair of creative writing at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts and coordinator of Trinity’s Poets in the Schools Program

In addition, several long-time ConnectiKids volunteers who have served as tutors/mentors with multiple students during the past decade will be recognized.

Sheila M. Fisher, who chairs the English department at Trinity and coordinates the College’s ConnectiKids tutoring site, said, “Every Thursday when I see dozens of college students and staff sitting side-by-side with 4th and 5th graders, reading together and getting to know each other, I realize what an impact we can have in building a community of readers. All of us involved in planning this celebration agreed it is equally important to applaud the positive momentum we are seeing in terms of literacy outreach, and explore other ways to collaborate in support of literacy and learning. It is our hope that this first celebration of literacy at Trinity will become an annual event.”

The idea for the celebration of literacy and literacy volunteers at Trinity was suggested by Old Lyme poet and painter Mary O’Connor, former director of communications at Trinity. A champion of literacy, O’Connor is donating all proceeds from the sale of her recently published book, Dreams of a Wingless Child, to the Freedom Writers, the group whose story was told in the movie of the same name, starring Hilary Swank. In so doing, as with the November 29th event, O'Connor hopes to reinforce the power of writing for youngsters to achieve their dreams and to decrease high school dropout rates.