Education Foundation for Billings Public Schools

Reading Rocks

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Reading Rocks, a summer reading program in the parks, will take place from June 17th through July 25th in 2013! We look forward to another terrific summer reading in the parks with students.

Reading Rocks provides reading activities for six weeks during the summer in conjunction with the School District II's Free Lunch in the Parks, a program that serves over 25,000 free lunches during the course of the summer. Reading Rocks is designed to help low income students continue reading over the summer when reading levels are known to drop. Students can enjoy guest storytellers from around the community at the start of every session. Students are then invited to read with adult and teen volunteers. Finally, all participants are awarded with a book of their choice and a prize to take home.

The Education Foundation would like to thank the Centennial Youth Foundation, Friends of Billings Parmly Library, Target, ExxonMobil Foundation, Rotary Club-West, and the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation for their generous support of Reading Rocks.

Through a grant provided by the Billings Rotary Club-West, the Education Foundation has developed a Reading Rocks Toolkit. The purpose of the Toolkit is to provide information for an organization to begin a Reading Rocks program in their community. Read More

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Weekly Schedule for Reading Rocks (12:15 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.)

Mondays and Wednesdays in North Park (6th Avenue and 22nd Street)
Tuesdays and Thursdays in Central Park (Central and 10th Street West)
Mondays in Crow-Arrowhead Park (Flathead Street and Crow Lane)
Thursdays in South Park (South 6th Street and Broadway)

Ways to get involved in 2013:

Volunteer as a storyteller that reads a short book concerning your organization to all of the children. The storyteller may also offer an activity for the children that relates to your organization in a fun and interesting way.

Volunteer to talk about topics of interest (e.g. a fireman talks about fire safety, a bicyclist discusses rules of the road and bicycle parts, an artist describes how he makes a sculpture, etc.)

Volunteer to help read with the children after the storyteller is done.

Download a Volunteer Application: Adult or Teen

Please contact Julie Whitworth at (406) 245-4133 or whitworthj@billingsschools.org with any questions.