Twenty-two retired teachers from the Williamson County Retired Teachers Association recently returned to kindergarten classrooms to read to the students as part of the Williamson County Retired Teachers’ Annual (WCRTA) Book Project.
After they read a book or two with the classes, the retirees gave each student a book to take home. This year, 474 books were given to the children. One of the main goals of this project is to promote the love of reading and literacy in our young citizens.
Approximately 160 books were distributed at Annie Purl Elementary and Jack Frost Elementary in Georgetown. The volunteers included Leslie Blanton, Betty Calcote, Cindy Loftis, Barbara Stoltenberg, Jennie Tedesco, Martha Woodley and Randy Woodley.
Round Rock volunteers visited Deepwood Elementary and Voight Elementary, where 112 books were presented to the students. Volunteers included Boots Coplin, Sara Field, Myra Fowler and Gene Stokes.
In Taylor, 202 books were put into the hands of the kindergarten children at T.H. Johnson Elementary School on April 29. The volunteers were Willie Cervenka, Randall Craig, Mary Delaney, Barbara Johnson, Lynn Krog, Moppy Miller, Pam Pekar, Darlene Rydell, Marilyn Tennill, Anne Wentrcek, and Barbara Yerby.
The late, beloved Naomi Pasemann was a faithful member of the Williamson County Retired Teachers Association, serving in numerous positions over many years. She never missed an opportunity to volunteer for the WCRTA Children’s Book Project. Back around 2009, Naomi was asked by Tim Crow to speak at a conference for a central Texas group of authors and illustrators at the UT Club on the University of Texas campus. As a gift, the group gave her a basket of goodies, and one of those goodies was the book, The Rattletrap Car. Naomi loved that book and always brought it to T.H. Johnson Elementary to read to the class she visited. In honor of her memory, a volunteer read it to one of the classes once again, and we plan to continue this tradition.
According to project coordinators, Randy Woodley and Darlene Rydell, this is the 18th year that WCRTA has participated in the Children’s Book Project. We were not able to go into the classrooms during the 2020 or 2021 school year due to the pandemic. Money for the books is collected at each regular WCRTA meeting
Chairpersons Woodley and Rydell added, “The Williamson County retired teacher volunteers always look forward to this time of the year when they can visit kindergarten classrooms, read stories, and present the books for the children to take home. Although they are no longer in the classrooms, retired teachers find many ways to volunteer within their communities. The Children’s Book Project continues to be one of their favorites.”
