The CHaFE 150 supports

READY! For Kindergarten

A birth-to-5 education program for families

All monies raised in the CHaFE 150 go to the Panhandle Alliance for Education in support of Ready! For Kindergarten, an early childhood education program to benefit children and enhance education in the Lake Pend Oreille School District of northern Idaho. The contributions from the 2008 CHaFE 150 are helping dozens of families prepare their children to read! And the need has proven greater than we even anticipated. More than 80 parents attended the first set of classes on October 25, 2008, and the response was overwhelmingly positive! Read the following story from the Bonner County Daily Bee to see how your contribution is making a difference:

PAFE rolls out Ready! For Kindergarten program

We're encouraging riders to collect donations and leverage all their sweat-n-burn to raise money for this great cause. So collect those pledges and donations! Riders who raise more than $500 will receive a distinctive and very cool jersey.  Those who raise over $1,000 will receive a fantastic rider jacket.  And those ambitious riders who raise over $5,000 will get a new bike of their choice!!  Here are some documents to help:
• Click for Pledge & Donation Form
• Click for Sample Request Letter (MS Word)
• Click for Sample Request Letter (PDF)

About Ready! For Kindergarten. The LPOSD school population includes large numbers of disadvantaged children. Early literacy efforts have proved to be effective in dramatically increasing these children's chance of success. Nearly half of entering kindergarteners in our school district were below grade level proficiency in 2006. On the first day of kindergarten, the range between students is as many as six years in reading skills and four years in math. The achievement gap originates in the home before a student's first day of kindergarten. Sadly, for many students, that gap remains through 12th grade. Increasing literacy skills in children before kindergarten helps them gain vital confidence and a love of learning that will follow them through their years of education.

It is a fact: Early literacy and math skills result in higher graduation rates from high school, lower delinquency rates, and school and job competitiveness.

We believe every child in this community deserves a chance. The Panhandle Alliance for Education has been all about creating chances for students and families in this corner of North Idaho since its formation in 2002. We are guided by a simple notion: When you give children a chance, they can be great!

Children from their earliest months are voracious learners, learning more and faster in their first three years than at any other stage of their development. The Ready! for Kindergarten program aims to help families with children from birth to age 5. The goal is to empower the parents as the first and most influential teachers in the child's life. Trained teachers reach up to 20 parents at a time in a classroom setting.

Each class of 20 parents is oriented to a specific child's age: 0-1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Parents leave each class with a new sense of empowerment and with high quality books, toys, and an understanding of how to play purposefully with their toddlers. Activities in the child's home environment are tracked. The program aims to prepare children with basic readiness tools; letters and sounds, math and reasoning, social and emotional skills. Through funding from Panhandle Alliance for Education and the generosity of donors, this program is offered free to families in the Bonner County School District.

Over 50 percent of students in the LPOSD are eligible for free or reduced lunch, more than 10 percent higher than the state average. It's a fact: Lower-income students eligible for free- and reduced-price lunches had lower average NAEP reading scores than students who were not eligible. At current estimates, the cost of bringing a child to kindergarten readiness is about $240 per year as compared to the more than $8,000 per child, per year, that it costs our district to provide special education once a child is in school.

The school district averages 225 to 240 new kindergarteners each year. From this, we could estimate that we have approximately 1,000 children in our community between the ages of 0 to 5. Our hope is to reach 200 families each year with this program.

Objective A: Increase percentage of entering kindergartners at grade level proficiency in reading and math from 56% to 90%.
Objective B: Increase percentage of exiting third graders at grade level proficiency in reading and math from 65% to 90%.
Objective C: Within five years 100% of READY! participants will reach grade level proficiency upon entering kindergarten.

The Ready! materials and information, as well as support from other parents, is an enticement for parents to continue. Children of parents who attend all classes receive a book a month from the Dolly Parton Foundation at no charge. Retention rates in other districts have been between 88% and 91%.

We are inviting you to create a chance for these children and yourself.

"The best way to improve schools is to improve the students sent to them."
- James J. Heckman, 2000 Nobel Laureate in Economics

Read more about the program at the Panhandle Alliance for Education's website: www.ReadySandpoint.org

Sample Request Letter PDF

Sample Request Letter Word