Our annual holiday party will be a potluck this year. We encourage all those who plan to attend to bring a favorite dish that could feed 6 to 8 people. Invitations will be mailed out in early November for the event that will be held on Thursday, December 2nd.
    We’ve already received some exciting donations for our annual free raffle, including two tickets to the San Francisco Opera! Ask your employer to donate something for the raffle. Gift certificates, overstock items and free passes make excellent raffle prizes.

Project Read’s website has moved to the Library’s powerful Alpha server and can now be accessed directly at: http://206.14.7.53/proread. (If all these numbers seem impersonal, we’re still accessible through the San Francisco Public Library’s website.) This new location makes maintaining and updating our site much easier.
    The site has been undergoing a gradual makeover. Some additions and changes include an online version of this newsletter, a schedule of classes for learners, a list of upcoming continuing education workshops for tutors, and a dazzling photo of our beautiful Literacy Van. If you haven’t visited our website recently, come see the changes.
    Mike Hoffman of Automation Services was instrumental in facilitating the change. Our heartfelt thanks go to him. 

Starting in November, Project Read will offer bimonthly tutor roundtable meetings designed to give our volunteer tutors an opportunity to share their concerns and accomplishments.  We hope that tutors will learn from each other’s experience during these sessions.  Project Read staff will also be on hand to provide additional support and answer questions.
     Upcoming tutor roundtable meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, November 30 and Tuesday, January 25, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.  Please mark you calendars and join us for an evening of learning and sharing. 

Joyce Patterson’s ten year old daughter Shelena was having difficulty reading and Joyce knew that Shelena wasn’t getting the help she needed at school. So Joyce decided to visit the principal of the school to express her concerns about Shelena’s reading difficulties. 
     To prepare for the meeting, Joyce thought about what she would ask for and how she would ask for it. She also brought a letter she wrote with the help of her tutor Ayala. The letter was to reinforce what Joyce asked for in the meeting.
     After the meeting, the principal was so impressed by Joyce and her story of her own struggles with reading that the principal asked to share the letter with other teachers. The principal also began seeking special help for Shelena. 
     Now Shelena has three tutors at her school and is getting the help she needs, thanks to her mother’s determination.