Opinion
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Sept. 5 - Sept. 18, 2015
43
Community Commentary
Early literacy is the foundation for positive outcomes for our youth organizations committed to ensuring every Early literacy is the foundation for child, birth to 5, obtains the necessary children to succeed in school and life. The literacy skills for school readiness. thought that children will learn how to The goal is to not create more read in pre-kindergarten programs, but to review the or kindergarten will be ones that are in place and ensure too late. Literacy efforts they’re being used to the fullest need to begin at birth. potential. It’s also important The most crucial ages that available resources are for preparing the brain’s accessible to families. Statistics development are 0 to 5 show that about 64 to 70 percent years old. It’s important for of students attending specific children to have a positive schools come unprepared. environment starting at This is not acceptable as the home that will support State of Arizona requires that them through their school all students must be proficient years. in reading before graduating Councilman Rick Education has always from the third grade. Schools Heumann. Submitted been a priority in Chandler. photo are spending additional funding The Chandler Education on remediation to bring these Coalition was formed in 2011. The coalition students to the proficiency level required. consists of members from community Less intervention will be needed if early businesses, agencies and organizations literacy efforts start at home. that already offer programs related to To understand where needs may education and literacy. Through the be, the Valley of the Sun United Way coalition, a literacy subcommittee was recently completed a literacy scan. The formed, now known as Read On Chandler. data collected from this scan will identify This group is a collaboration of community those areas needing assistance. Read
BY COUNCILMEN RICK HEUMANN
On Chandler is analyzing this data and reaching out to community partners to discuss strategies that will turn these statistics around. Stronger partnerships will be developed among the community organizations as the immediate target areas and current programs are identified. It’s beneficial to have all the players involved from the beginning, not just with the organizations, but starting at home and school. Through effective leadership and partnering, the data will align and adapt resources necessary for the continued success of children through high school graduation and college. Components of readiness include family engagement, health, screening and assessment, awareness, language, and outreach. On a recent “Chandler In Focus” show, I spoke with Joanne Floth, executive director of Read On Chandler, and Mary Sagar, Downtown Chandler library manager. It was exciting to hear about their partnership and the variety of early literacy programs currently offered. The Chandler libraries offer programs such as “High Five Play Group,” “Every Child
Ready to Read” and “Read to Succeed.” At the end of the “High Five Play Group,” participants receive reading together activity cards that are in English and Spanish. These cards provide literacy tips as well as book suggestions. All programs offered at the Chandler libraries are free. There are also opportunities to tutor or volunteer. For information on these programs and how to be involved, visit the Chandler Library website at www. chandlerlibrary.org. It’s important that parents and caregivers understand their responsibility and role in developing young minds in preparation for school. Reach out to the school and local organizations, as well as Read On Chandler. For information about Read On Chandler and available resources, visit readonchandler.org. To view the Chandler In Focus show discussing early literacy efforts, visit www.chandleraz.gov/ video. Councilman Rick Heumann, whose term expires January 2017, can be reached at rick.heumann@chandleraz.gov.
It’s always election season for county recorder BY DENNY BARNEY, MARICOPA COUNTY SUPERVISOR, DISTRICT 1
You might wonder what an entire elections office does in the “off-season.” There are four consolidated dates for jurisdictions to hold elections: March, May, August and November. This means, in fact, there is almost always an election! On top of the larger city and state elections, the department also manages special elections, such as library, fire, hospital and school districts and the presidential preference. The department accommodates these workload swings by only having 55 permanent employees supplemented by 200 temporary employees. The temporary employees work for months preceding an
election on early voting, voter registration When they aren’t administering our and poll worker recruitment. Others assist First Amendment right to vote, they are in postelection processing promoting it. and the state-mandated handThe department conducts count process. On top of that, outreach events several times a the department requires 3,846 week across the 724 precincts special election poll workers countywide. These include and 118 troubleshooters at the naturalization ceremonies, high peak of major elections. These school education events and individuals work to setup polling other voter registration efforts. places, replace equipment and And they are very effective. The monitor polling activity so each elections department registers Denny Barney. voter’s experience is seamless. nearly 10,000 new voters each Submitted photo Elections need this dynamic year. Their good work doesn’t workforce model to manage stop there; they also work to the more than 1.3 million ballots cast each spread our democratic values to other statewide election. countries. Maricopa County has been
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asked to provide tours for visitors from France, Turkmenistan, Vietnam, Russia, India, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These tours, organized through the World Affairs Council of Arizona, help develop best practices for transparent and fair elections around the globe. They do all this by being flexible and innovative. The elections department is also one of the most tech-savvy departments in government. For the past few decades they have made major advances in see ELECTION page 44
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