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News Releases / Full Story
April 27, 2009
Platteville Physician Launches New Literacy Program
REACH OUT AND READ Makes Clinic Visits Fun
Madison, WI - One of Dean/St. Mary’s family medicine/obstetrics physicians is the driving force behind a new pediatric literacy initiative in the Platteville area. Wendy Molaska, MD is one of the coordinators of REACH OUT AND READ, an early pediatric literacy program that promotes reading during well child visits among parents and kids six months to five years of age.
As a primary care provider, Dr. Wendy Molaska presents each child with a new, developmentally appropriate book to take home. Wendy reaches out to parents to discuss the value of reading at an early age and offers parents guidelines on how and when to introduce books. She has coordinated the ROR program in other communities throughout the country and says it is a very rewarding effort.
“Kids should be able to verbalize words from books they read by the age of five,” says Molaska. “We really encourage families to read to their kids. Students will do better in school if the family helps them read at home.”
Another goal of REACH OUT AND READ is to create a literacy-rich waiting room with gently used books. Volunteers are needed to read to children and demonstrate appropriate reading behaviors/interactions with books. Your business or organization can support this program in several ways. Please consider donating money for the purchase of new developmentally appropriate books, collecting gently used books, furnishing the literacy corner, serving as a volunteer reader or requesting a speaker to learn more about ROR.
If you are interested in supporting the program, contact Terry Wood at (608) 348-6651. To speak with Dr. Wendy Molaska about the program, please contact Dean Health System Communications Manager Melissa Wollering at (608) 250-1504. Platteville Doctor’s Park Clinic is one of more than 30 clinics that comprise the Dean/St. Mary’s Regional Clinic network.
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