Farmington Rotary partners on youth literacy project

FARMINGTON — Farmington Rotary, as part of its dedication to the youth of the community, has recently supported several area projects involving youth.

A major project benefiting area youth is the Little Free Library project that Rotary is partnering on with Kenny Brechner, of Devaney, Doak & Garrett Booksellers. Eight “literacy houses” are being built for area schools and they will soon be filled with galleys that the bookstore receives — advance copies of books sent for promotional purposes.
The intent is for students to pick up the galleys to own, borrow or share. Brechner is in the process of setting up an online hub where the children can compare notes about what they’ve read and continue the conversation through the school district.
The creation of the little houses has been a collaborative effort: Farmington Rotarian Dennis O’Neil had all the parts cut out, Mt. Blue High School teacher Jake Bogar and his pre-engineering students at Foster Career and Technical Center burned logos into the houses. All the metal bases were constructed by Rob Olsen’s students in the Metal Fabrication program at Foster CTE Center.
Rotarians Pauline Rodrigue and Al Feather will organize an assembly of the houses at the school once all the parts are completed. They will work with students from the high school interact club and the University of Maine at Farmington Rotaract club to create the final product.
Farmington Rotary President Sue Pratt also recently presented a $1,000 check to the Mt. Blue High School’s Blue Crew robotics team, the Blue Crew, to support that program.
Farmington Rotary is open to all. Meetings are held on Thursdays at 7 a.m. at the North Dining Hall on the UMF campus. Follow the group’s activities on Facebook.
PHOTO: Literacy Boxes are being constructed and will soon be on display at area schools as a result of a collaboration with Farmington Rotary and Devaney, Doak & Garrett. (Submitted photo)