The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
Moorcroft first graders celebrated the annual Wyoming Reads on Wednesday May 19, 2021 at the Moorcroft Elementary School. Area coordinator Bonnie Stahla, Youth Services Librarian at the Crook County Library in Sundance, explained to the group how Wyoming Reads came to be and how the Sue Jorgensen foundation was founded.
She then read the fairytale of “The Good Queen Sue” with the help of the students. A readers’ theater of “Interrupting Chicken” by David Ezra Stein was performed by Bonnie Stahla; and Carrie Riley, Crook County Adult Services Librarian in Sundance.
After some giggles and laughs, the Wyoming Reads book bags were handed out to each student, which included a hardback book with his/her name on a bookplate inside, That’s WY flag, a bookmark and a cookie.
Partners in this year’s Wyoming Reads celebration include the Tonkin Foundation, McMurry Foundation, Casper Rotary Club, Natrona County Recreation Joint Powers Board, Friends of the Natrona County Library and a number of generous individuals.
John Jorgensen of Casper leads an extraordinary group of educators and civic leaders to present this annual literacy celebration for the state of Wyoming. John established the Sue Jorgensen Library Foundation in 1996 and founded the Casper Cares, Casper Reads celebration in 1999 to honor his late wife’s commitment to literacy and children.
“Sue was always very dedicated to children and to literacy,” says Jorgensen. “She believed that literacy was the foundation for everything in life.”
That vision continues to fuel this community literacy initiative.
The local event was renamed Wyoming Reads when it first expanded statewide in 2006. Through the fundraising efforts of the Sue Jorgensen Library Foundation, enough money has been raised again this year to give every first-grade student in Wyoming their own hardcover book.