Making a difference, one reader at a time

The Kiwanis Club of Ottawa would like to thank local Canadian Tire dealers for their continued support of Kiwanis Read-a-thon.

By donating bikes, helmets and other prizes to be awarded to Read-a-thon winners, Canadian Tire is encouraging children to read and making a difference in the community.

You can register your school for the Fall 2011 Read-a-thon at the Kiwanis Read-a-thon site.

To thank the Canadian Tire dealers, the Club ran an ad in the Ottawa Citizen on Tuesday, July 5th, 2011 (page A5).

Manotick Public School's 3rd Annual Kiwanis Read-a-thon

Students of Manotick Public School read an amazing 72,521 minutes or 1,209 hours during their 3rd Annual Kiwanis Read-a-thon held the weeks of February 1/11 to February 25/11. Participants raised an amazing $2,017.25 for their school's Blue Spruce and Silver Birch book clubs (the Forest of Reading program administered by the Ontario Library Association).

Way to go Manotick Public students for a job well done and keep up the reading!

5 Big Ways to Help Kids Love Books

An article on Wonder time provides some interesting ideas on how to cultivate your own bookworm.

Ottawa Citizen article - Books in home boost kids' academic future

The Ottawa Citizen had a great article on early literacy by Misty Harris.

Local Writer Kita Szpak joins Author program

Kiwanis Read-a-thon is pleased to announce another local author joining our program. Kita Szpak, author of her new book, "You're Special Wherever You Are", is looking forward to coming to local Ottawa schools for site visits.

Please visit: www.picturebookstories.com to contact Kita.

Below is a short bio about our author:

Kita Szpak

I was born in London, England, the twin daughter of Polish parents.  I
immigrated to Canada at the tender age of three.  During my school years,
competitive figure skating took a first seat.  And I know now that the
discipline of being athlete and scholar has been beneficial to my
professional and creative growth.

During my language studies at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, I had
the opportunity to travel, work and study in Europe.  I completed my honours
B.A. in German, and went on to finish a second honours degree in Education.

Having initiated a successful teaching career in Kingston and Ottawa, family
life then took over. Three sons later, I re-entered my career orbit.  In
1992, I started my own consulting business, KS Communications, focusing in
the areas of strategic communications, media relations, publicity and
writing.

All the while, I have been writing children's short stories in my spare
time.   Initially, these were stories that I told my boys when they were
little. They are all grown up now but the stories keep coming, and I have
great satisfaction in putting them to paper.

When not writing, I am outside where I run and compete in the occasional
road race. This year, I will be particpating in my first marathon in
California.