New Jersey Recorder Spring 2005 (text)

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Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic
New Jersey Unit
69 Mapleton Road
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
Phone 609-750-1830
Fax 609-750-9653

Recorder Spring 2005

A publication dedicated to our members and the volunteers, staff and supporters of the New Jersey Unit.

Providing equal access to the printed word.

Ambitious Goals Set For Record-A-Thon 2005!

The New Jersey Unit will celebrate the 2005 Record-A-Thon (R-A-T) the week of April 25-30. An exciting schedule of activities is planned to ensure the unit can meet its aggressive goals for audio production, fundraising and volunteer recruitment.

As always, volunteers are encouraged to spend more time at the studio so every booth can be filled during all hours of operations. A $60,000 fundraising goal has been set, including $16,000 from volunteers and $44,000 from corporate sources. Last year's successful and popular silent auction will be repeated.

New this year is a Singles' Night on the evening of Thursday, April 28 to attract potential new volunteers. Public open houses will be held all day during each day of the event.

Celebrity volunteers include former New Jersey Governor and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman who will serve as 2005 Record-A-Thon honorary chair and record from her highly publicized new best seller It's My Party Too. Pulitzer Prize winner C.K. Williams returns to record from his latest collection of poems, The Singing. Rep. Rush Holt, Professor Emeritus of physics at the Institute for Advanced Study Freeman Dyson and Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes will also return. New faces include NJN radio personality Robin Shannon.

[photo of Christine Todd Whitman] While Governor, Christine Todd Whitman volunteered regularly for RFB&D. She'll return to serve as Record-A-Thon honorary chair and record her best seller It's My Party Too.

Times of Trenton To Receive Crystal Book Award

The Times of Trenton will receive the 2005 Crystal Book Award for outstanding corporate leadership at the Wednesday, April 27 corporate open house.

The award will be presented by Lou Mercatanti, chairman and president of Nassau Broadcasting and Corporate Co-chairs Don Tretola, Regional Public Affairs Director for PSE&G, and Caliper CEO Herb Greenberg, Ph.D.

The Times is being feted for donating weekly public awareness advertisements for RFB&D. Several of the ads have highlighted the New Jersey Unit and success stories from New Jersey members.

The event is hosted by lead sponsor Nassau Broadcasting and studio sponsors Caliper and PSE&G and sponsored by Tre Piani.

The open house will take place from 5 to 7 P.M. For more information about this event or becoming a Record-A-Thon sponsor, contact Sandi Wilson at 609-750-9579 or swilson@rfbd.org.

[photo of Record-A-Thon Committee]
This year's Record-A-Thon working committee includes (top, from left) Sandy Shapiro, Debbie Faigen and Rose Marie Proietti (bottom, from left) Mary Bell, Anne Young, Jessie Falcone, Oriel Quinlan and Anita Trullinger. Not pictured are committee members Beverly Mills and Felicia Powell.Record-A-Thon Sponsors

Lead Sponsor 2005
Nassau Broadcasting Partners, L.P.

Studio Sponsors
PRE&G
Caliper

Farewell To Two Long Time Friends

In February, the unit lost two of its greatest friends and supporters.

Irv Rabinowitz first became involved with RFB&D in 1965. He soon found it was a great avenue to share his insatiable love of learning. With his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Princeton and a career in computers that led him to jobs in India and at Rutgers University, Princeton Plasma Physics and the Institute for Advanced Study, the unit benefited from his ability to read the most challenging scientific and mathematical texts. He was also unfazed by texts with extensive Hindi or Hebrew.

Irv and his wife Sandie led by example during Record-A-Thons, spending months organizing and then all but living in the studio during the week of the event, reading, directing, bookmarking and motivating other volunteers.

Staff and his fellow volunteers will also miss Irv's kindness, immense sense of humor and irrepressible joy for living. When the digital age first entered the RFB&D workplace, Irv spent many hours teaching non-computer savvy staff members the basics of computing. During fire drills he always volunteered to protect the cookie jar from looters.

[photo of Irv Rabinowitz] Irv Rabinowitz with one of his great loves...books!

On February 5, the New Jersey Unit lost one of its greatest advocates and supporters. Martha Norris, mother of Robbie Ellsworth and mother-in-law of board member Shawn Ellsworth, died peacefully at home surrounded by her family.

You may have noticed, the studio closest to our front door has been dedicated in memory of Martha's late husband, Alfred O. Norris. Toward the end of Mr. Norris' life, he lost his sight. As an avid reader, Martha, Robbie and Shawn knew that RFB&D would be a cause he would champion. The studio is now dedicated to the memory of Alfred and Martha Norris.

Martha had been a devoted wife and it was obvious how much she loved Robbie, Shawn and, of course, her grandchildren, John and Alyssa. Beyond her devotion to her family was her dedication to her volunteer work. Martha volunteered in soup kitchens, feeding and nurturing the less fortunate. She was considered "unpaid" staff in a local nursing home, where she was not just an extra pair of hands, but she was a companion for many sick, lonely and scared elderly residents. Martha was always ready with a kind word, a smile and a helping hand. She took volunteerism very seriously.

Martha believed in helping and giving back to the communities where she lived through her generous support, advocacy and by rolling up her shirt sleeves and pitching in when needed. Martha will be missed by all of us at the New Jersey Unit, but we hope to keep her spirit alive in the work that we do and the people RFB&D helps.

[photo of Chris Ranaghan and Martha Norris] Chris Ranaghan with Martha Norris at Martha's home during the 2004 Putnam Society event.

Volunteer Spotlight:
Energy Shortage? Not When Betsey Butler's Involved

If Betsey Butler's car could run on her energy, it would never need a stop at the gas station. Fortunately, Betsey brings her seemingly endless energy, talent and enthusiasm to the New Jersey Unit. Betsey has been an RFB&D volunteer since January 2000 when her curiosity about what went on in the national headquarters building on Roszel Road led her to stop in. She was directed to the West Windsor studio where the staff made her feel so at home she decided to volunteer.

She soon became a reader valued for her ability to clearly interpret difficult maps and figures. Her experience working with USAID makes her the go to volunteer for anthropology and cultural studies texts. Most weeks, Betsey volunteers for four recording sessions.

When the staff groggily greets Betsey for the 9 A.M. session, she's often already put in time rowing on Lake Carnegie. She is also an avid tennis player and skier.

Last year Betsey answered an outreach center help-wanted ad posted on the volunteer lounge's refrigerator, which, she says is, "something I always look at." She works in the outreach center two days a week placing book orders for member schools, researching if AIM school requests are in the CV Starr Learning Through Listening ® Library at headquarters and working with Professional Development Provider Benjamin Rivera, helping him ensure that teachers have the proper materials and training to assist their students in the classroom.

Betsey lives in West Windsor with her husband Rich and her son Brett, also a studio volunteer. Her daughter Claire is a student at the University of Richmond.

[photo of Betsey Butler] Betsey Butler's experience and energy make her a double threat, both in the studio and the outreach center.

Rutgers Learning Through Listening Study Is "On Track"

After over a year of planning, the evidence-based research study implemented by the Rutgers Graduate School of Education, sponsored by RFB&D national headquarters and administered by the New Jersey educational outreach center was introduced to the classrooms of several New Brunswick schools in early November. The study will assess the effectiveness of RFB&D's Learning Through Listening ®(LTL)program.

Getting the project to the implementation stage was truly a cooperative effort between RFB&D's national headquarters, the staff and volunteers of the New Jersey Unit, the research team from Rutgers and the administration and faculty in New Brunswick. Because of this cooperation, Melanie Kuhn Ed.D., of Rutgers says, "the data collection is going well and the study is on-track."

It is expected that the study will confirm a lot of the empirical documentation of the success of the LTL program in assisting students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia to "read to learn." This evidence will aid both the New Jersey Unit and the national organization in securing funding from governmental sources and foundation grants and convince many more school districts to obtain LTL Annual Institutional Memberships for their students with learning disabilities.

The study, under the direction of Dr. Kuhn and three graduate assistants assigned to Lincoln, Lord Stirling and Roosevelt K-8 schools in the New Brunswick Public School System, is looking at the literacy development of students, grades 4-8, classified with a specific learning disability.

Research Project Manager Connie Dowling, Peter Smith, vice president of programs and services, Pam Johnson, director of library services, collection librarians Kristin Longmuir and Janice Treggett, and Bernice Shapiro, production training and support coordinator at RFB&D's national headquarters have provided crucial assistance in moving the project forward.

Christine Ranaghan, director of RFB&D's New Jersey Educational Outreach Center "appreciates the support and assistance from the New Brunswick administration, especially Superintendent Richard Kaplan, Pupil Personnel Director Craig Yetman and Special Education Supervisor Debbie Daly-Massado."

Debbie Passafiume, New Jersey member services coordinator "is amazed" by the large number of curriculum books ordered for the study. Debbie has been instrumental in getting the RFB&D AudioPlus ® books on CD that unit Outreach Curriculum Specialist Sherry Deutsch brings to the graduate assistants and teachers.

Volunteer participation has been key to recording the necessary books in a timely manner to ensure the students can keep up with their class work. Ranaghan adds a special "thank you for your generous acts of kindness," to the New Jersey Unit volunteers.

Not least in this cooperative effort are Production Director Jessie Falcone and Assistant Production Director Jen Weber and the rest of the studio staff who work closely with the outreach center to make the required New Brunswick curriculum books available.

Stephanie Campbell Named Executive Director

After an exhaustive search, Stephanie Campbell has recently joined the New Jersey Unit as executive director.

Stephanie comes to the unit with vast nonprofit and financial development experience. She most recently was Director of Development for WYBE, a Pennsylvania public television station and has held positions with WHYY and the African American Museum in Philadelphia and WNET in New York.

A New Jersey native, Stephanie holds a B.A. in Communications from William Paterson University and is completing her M.B.A. at Eastern University in Pennsylvania. She is also a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

[Photo of Stephanie Campbell] Stephanie Campbell joined the New Jersey Unit in early March. Her experience working with volunteers, funders and the community should help the unit increase its ability to reach new members.

Wouldn't You Like To Adopt A Text Today?

RFB&D's Adopt-A-Text ® program allows you to sponsor the recording of books of interest to you or to your company or organization on any particular topic that will be available in RFB&D's library. For $1,000 you can adopt a text from kindergarten to post-graduate level in any academic subject.

Through your gift, you can... Provide thousands of RFB&D members who are blind, visually impaired or have a learning disability, such as dyslexia, with the necessary textbooks to help them succeed educationally and professionally.

Sponsor books relevant to your particular interest, such as science, business, religion, finance, literature, etc. This allows you to help individuals most likely studying for careers in a specific field.

Receive recognition and exposure to a new audience of RFB&D members. Make a gift to honor or memorialize a volunteer, friend, colleague or family member.

Your gift will be acknowledged with a recorded message at the beginning of each textbook. Examples include:
"This book is provided through the generosity of the XYZ corporation."
or
"This book is provided in honor/memory of Joseph Smith."

Completed recordings are housed in RFB&D's CV Starr Learning Through Listening ® Library and copied onto cassettes or CDs when requested by students. All copies will carry the message of your gift of support for years to come! Your adoption will also make you a member of the Putnam Society which acknowledges the New Jersey Unit's most generous financial supporters.

For more information about how you or your company or organization can participate in the Adopt-A-Text program, contact Sandi Wilson at (609) 750-9579 or swilson@rfbd.org.

Staff
Stephanie Campbell, Executive Director
Sandi Wilson, Director of Development
Karyn Grunwald, Administrative Assistant
Jessie Falcone, Production Director
Michael Casserly, Assistant Production
Director Tony Gruenewald, Communications Coordinator/Assistant Production Director
Jen Weber, Assistant Production Director
Judy Wilson-Smith, Production Assistant
Helen Fortunato, Production Assistant
Margaret Breidenthal, Production Assistant
James Butera, Production Assistant

Educational Outreach Center
Christine Ranaghan, Director
Sherry Deutsch, Curriculum Specialist
Deborah Passafiume, Member Service Coordinator
Benjamin Rivera, Professional Development Provider

Sandra Shapiro, Webmaster

Board of Directors

Officers
Cynthia Hillas, Chair
James D. Walker, Vice-chair
Douglas Moore, Treasurer
Amy Regan, Secretary
Shawn Ellsworth, Past Co-chair
Peter Gibson, Past Co-chair

Board Members
Catherine D. Brown
Debra Faigen
Jerome K. Freedman, M.D.
Marjorie Freeman
David Grant
Earl Groendyke
Herb Greenberg, Ph.D.
Margaret T. Harper
Lynne Long
Mari Molenaar, Ed.D.
Sandra Shapiro

©2005 Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. ©, TM, SM, "Recording for the Blind &Dyslexic," "RFB&D," "Learning Through Listening," the Heart and Headphones design, and all trademarks, service mars and trade names are proprietary to Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, Incorporated.

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