(Cushing, Okla.) Lion of the Day Fred Caudle seemed especially proud to introduce his guest speakers – Bonnie Reber and Stacey Adams. “I can honestly say I’ve known Bonnie all of her life,” Caudle said. Reber is the daughter of Fred and Ann Caudle and Adams is her partner in a foundation they founded: Books for All Foundation.
The Books for All story is an inspirational one – and it could be said it all began with Grace.
Grace, Bonnie’s daughter, has Down Syndrome. Stacey was Grace’s special education teacher. It wasn’t long before they discovered common bonds – they both believed in the importance of reading and they both had noticed the lack of quality reading materials designed to meet the challenges faced by children with disabilities.
Perhaps it was the teacher in them. Bonnie has a Bachelor Degree in Elementary Education from Oklahoma State University and Stacey has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Art and a Bachelor of Science degree in Art Education with an emphasis in Special Education. “I fell in love with using art in special ed,” Stacey said. Her love of art, coupled with a bout with cancer, led her to write her first book – “A Home for Brooks”.
“The kids collected money for her while she was undergoing cancer treatment,” Bonnie explained. “She bought a dog with that money and then wrote letters to the kids. Those letters became this book.” Stacey, an artist in her own right, also illustrated the book.
And then she wrote another book.
“I Am Grace” is about Grace, and like “A Home for Brooks”, it makes use of simple sentence structure and high frequency words – perfect for beginning readers or those with special needs.
After being approached by Stacey to partner on the book, Bonnie said she and her husband decided to finance its publishing.
“We started out thinking we’d travel all over talking about the books and be on Oprah and Ellen,” laughed Bonnie. “But we realized what we really wanted was to be able to provide quality books, in a variety of formats, to meet the needs of ALL children – including those with special needs.”
‘Nationally, an average of 88 percent of 4th grade students with disabilities continue to score below proficiency in reading – even with the support and specialized instruction offered by Individualized Education Plans (IEPs),” Stacey said. “We believe these scores must improve to ensure success for all children.”
Although Bonnie and Stacey both reside near Kansas City, they are bringing their passion to Payne County with a Payne County Elementary School Reading Celebration. “This is my home,” Bonnie said. “This is my county.”
They are hoping to provide the following:
1. Language Arts Assemblies for elementary school students
2. Community Presentations to provide information about the importance of independent reading outside of school and its impact on future success
3. Books from their original, uniquely formatted series
4. Complete resource sets for each title in their series to be available for classroom instruction plus additional books for library checkout
5. A free high interest, independent reading book for students and information about independent reading to take home
What can you do?
*Donate new or gently used “just right” children’s books
*Make a monetary donation
*Hold a book drive
*Volunteer to go to the schools and help students pick out a “just right book” of their very own
(A “just right book” is one that the child can “connect” with – such as one about a topic of keen interest to that child. Volunteers will be asked to spend a few minutes with each child to help them make the right selection. Those interested in volunteering should contact Bonnie Reber at [email protected])
If you have elementary school age books you would like to donate or would like to hold a book drive, you can contact:
Fred Caudle: 918-223-7080
Ann Caudle: 918-223-5635
Martha Smith: 918-223-7752
Vic Caudle at Shelter Insurance 918-873-0520
For more information visit: www.booksforallfoundation.org
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