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Indian River County families went on a “literal” journey during the 2nd Annual SDIRC Moonshot Literacy Lane hosted by The Learning Alliance to support the Moonshot Moment Literacy Movement and promote the importance of reading.

Families gathered near The Learning Alliance's Moonshot Reading Rocket in the parking lot of the Indian River County Main Library where children created masterpieces celebrating their ish-ness under the guidance of Bridget Lyons, TLA Arts/Literacy Educator and Manager of the Reading Rocket.

Volunteers escorted families from business to business during the one-mile story walk using an innovative approach to get parents moving and kids reading while encouraging family engagement and modeling reading.

The Learning Alliance (TLA) said, “The bus stops here for literacy” as they joined forces with Rosewood Magnet School and The Senior Resource Association to hand out free books at the GoLine bus hub on 16th Street in January.

As passengers waited for their bus to arrive, they were able to sift through more than 400 books collected and donated by students from Rosewood Magnet School. Casandra Flores, Rosewood principal, and Lisa Ross, Rosewood literacy coach, were on hand to literally help spread the word.

Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. – Frederick Douglass

The Moonshot Literacy Movement has heeded Douglass’ quote and taken the literacy show on the road for the holidays. For the second year The Learning Alliance (TLA) has given Santa a little help, feeding the growing minds of children in Fellsmere with a visit from the TLA Moonshot Moment Bookmobile.

Volunteers from the Exchange Club of Fellsmere – sporting Santa hats – joined the ranks of The Learning Alliance to gift wrap and hand out more than 800 new books to about 75 families during the December Fellsmere Mobile Food Pantry distribution sponsored by the Fellsmere Action Committee Team and the Treasure Coast Food Bank at Mesa Park.

During the December Moonshot Community Action Network (MCAN) meeting, five local Champions – Dr. Fran Adams, Judi Miller, Ray Oglethorpe, Barry Tatem, and Chief Keith Touchberry – were honored for their efforts to ensure 90 percent of Indian River County students are reading on grade level by the third grade.

Each year The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading [a nationwide collaborative created to ensure that more children in low-income families succeed in school] honors individuals who support early literacy. In 2018, 47 communities identified Champions - volunteers, educators, school and civic leaders and public officials - nominated for their support.

There was much to be thankful for Thanksgiving week as the Moonshot Moment Bookmobile made its way through the Gifford community handing out books from The Learning Alliance Mobile Library with the help of Indian River County Sheriff's deputies.

In an effort to put books in the hands of children while making connections, The Learning Alliance and the Sheriff's Office formed a literacy partnership to promote reading through “Book Em: A new take on getting booked by law enforcement” in support of The Alliance's Moonshot Moment Goal to have 90 percent of Indian River County children reading on grade level by the third grade.

Community members visited Fellsmere Elementary during the Moonshot Tour of Gratitude in November, giving Moonshot Moment supporters a firsthand look at the work being accomplished through the collaborative efforts of The Learning Alliance, Moonshot Community Action Network and the school district.

Nearly 200 community leaders gathered for the triennial Moonshot Community Action Network (MCAN) Summit on Oct. 31 at the First Presbyterian Church in Vero Beach.

The collective spent the morning engaged in discussions focusing on the imperative: What does it take for Indian River County's community leaders to operate as a high performing team such that we lead the way, are stronger together, inspired and unstoppable in taking a stand for our children and thereby fueling our community's economic vitality?

“I am the proud mom of two sons who are in college now; but when they were in kindergarten, they were failing kindergarten. The teacher didn't know why and I didn't know why,” explained Barbara Hammond The Learning Alliance (TLA) co-founder and CEO. “The agony and the ecstasy of being a parent started this journey.”

The Learning Alliance Coordinated “JumpStart Read for the Record” and 18th annual “Lights on Afterschool Rally for our Moonshot Community.

The Learning Alliance (TLA) helped shine a light on the importance of literacy afterschool programs by organizing the “JumpStart Read for the Record” and 18th annual “Lights on Afterschool Rally” on Oct. 25 to celebrate children and reading and to support the Moonshot Moment Goal of having 90 percent of all students reading on grade level by the third grade.

An estimated 4,500 school-age children from around the county participated in activities at public elementary schools during the day. Moonshot Community Action Network partners included Dasie Hope Bridgewater Center in Wabasso; Indian River County Main Library; Buggy Bunch; Literacy Services of IRC; Big Brothers/Big Sisters of St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee; Kindergarten Readiness Collaborative; The Learning Alliance Moonshot Academy Afterschool Programs; Little Rising Stars Preschool; and Childcare Resources.

 Much like the crowd drawn out by the music from the neighborhood ice cream truck, children clamored for their chance to step into the Moonshot Moment Bookmobile as it rolled into the Dasie Hope Center for its first stop this summer.

Now in its third year of delivering literacy opportunities to where they’re needed most, The Learning Alliance Mobile Library made stops in Fellsmere, Gifford, Oslo and Wabasso each week to deliver the written word to hundreds of children.

Summer days should be filled with water balloon fights, days at the beach, melting popsicles and … reading. For many children, the last day of school means they won't have access to books until they return to school in August.

This summer The Learning Alliance’s (TLA) Moonshot Reading Rocket blasted off on a 2,700-mile journey for Grade-Level Reading Week in Philadelphia, Pa. The Moonshot Moment Literacy Movement Rocket Return Reception celebrated the literacy pilgrimage at the Brackett Library on the Indian River State College (IRSC) Mueller Center Campus.

The week-long conference focused on accelerating learning and strengthening connections among the network of communities seeking to collaborate and replicate the efforts of community coalitions to support early learning, early literacy and early school success.

The Moonshot Reading Rocket has embarked on its 2018 national road tour to support the Campaign for Grade Level Reading and our fellow Pacesetter communities!  The Rocket will be spreading the Moonshot Moment message and “collecting stories” for the national project: Voices: A Community Tapestry of Stories.

School may have been out for the summer but it was in session for a group of dedicated Indian River County teachers who chose to give up a week of their summer vacation to attend a week-long, literacy-intensive teacher institute hosted by The Learning Alliance (TLA).

The Moonshot Summer Teacher Institute offered a free professional development opportunity for elementary school teachers by immersing the educators in a model classroom experience. Featuring the inspirational story “Malala's Magic Pencil” by Malala Yousafzai, the teachers were exposed to research-based strategies. By providing authentic opportunities for applied learning, the teachers witnessed firsthand how to develop foundational literacy skills.

More than 400 pajama-clad, slipper-wearing children and their families gathered at the Heritage Center, Fellsmere Elementary School and the Sebastian Boys and Girls Club for the fifth annual Moonshot Moment Family Pajama Pizza (and a Movie) Party hosted by The Learning Alliance to celebrate National Summer Learning Day.

Fellsmere Elementary School third-graders showed impressive gains in reading proficiency this year, and one of the contributing factors was the product of a newly forged relationship – Cadets & Kids – between the 3rd graders at Fellsmere Elementary in Amy Shoemaker's class and recruits attending the Criminal Justice Institute Basic Recruit Training Program at Indian River State College.

Rising first-graders from Sebastian and Treasure Coast Elementary Schools needing a boost to make sure they are on grade-level when they start back to school this fall discovered that reading really is “out of this world.”

What helped “launch” these children into literacy success stories? Literacy in Motion (LIM), a hands-on, literature intensive program The Learning Alliance developed in collaboration with the Vero Beach Museum of Art and the School District of Indian River County to help stop the summer slide. According to recent studies, children can lose as much as two months of knowledge over the summer. The program also gives low-performing students the chance to catch up with their peers academically.

A group of rising third-graders from Sebastian and Treasure Coast Elementary schools dove into summer learning with the help of The Learning Alliance, the Environmental Learning Center (ELC) and the School District of Indian River County.

Students spent four weeks immersed in literacy as they explored the Indian River Lagoon through the Literacy on the Lagoon (LOL) program, a collaborative program developed to stop the summer slide. Studies show that children lose two or more months of grade-level equivalency during the summer.

The Learning Alliance told a crowd of educators, volunteers, community leaders and philanthropists a story during the nonprofit's annual gala at the Vero Beach Museum of Art recently -- the story of how “The Power of the Community's Moonshot Story to Change the World” is unfolding right here in Indian River County through the collaborative efforts of literacy proponents.

As guests entered the museum, they were greeted by storybook characters from the Indian River Charter High School Theater Department. Dorothy and the Scarecrow pointed the way to “the Yellow Brick Road;” Alice and the Mad Hatter ushered attendees along so they wouldn't be “late for a very important date,” and Mary Poppins offered up “a spoonful of sugar.”

There was a whole lotta reading going on at Gifford Middle School during the 2^nd Annual Moonshot Moment Family Literacy Festival, a free event to celebrate and promote literacy and the joy of reading.

In the true spirit of community, Moonshot Community Action Network members, local churches, and nonprofits teamed up with The Learning Alliance to celebrate literacy and support the community’s goal for 90 percent of all students to be reading on or above grade-level by the third grade.

Families spent the day immersed in hands-on reading activities for children ranging in age from pre-kindergarten through middle school. According to event coordinator Michele Holiday, the key, was to expose parents to activities they could do at home with their children in minutes instead of hours. “A lot of parents don't have the knowledge to help prepare their children to learn to read. We wanted to equip our parents with activities that they could incorporate at home.”

The third annual Pre-K Party and Kindergarten RoundUp will be held on February 24, from 10 am - 2 pm, at the Indian River Mall!

The annual Moonshot Moment Day of Service is held each year to celebrate the success of our Moonshot Community and to honor those organizations who are working toward our collective goal to "create literate, curious, creative, compassionate lifelong learners who will improve our world!"  We are Moonshot!

Our 4th Annual Moonshot Moment National Summer Learning Day Free Family Pizza Party will be held on July 13, 2017!  

Location:  The Heritage Center, 14th Avenue, Vero Beach, FL

Time:  6:00 - 8:00 pm

Audience:  Geared for Families with Children Ages 4 - 12

RSVP for your free admission here:  http://bit.ly/2tdNP9b

 The Learning Alliance and the School District of Indian River County have once again partnered together to bring the Moonshot Moment Bookmobile into the community, delivering free books during the summer.  

Join the Moonshot Moment community for our summer 2017 "Big Read" which is "STONE SOUP" by Jon J. Muth.  Our theme is Indian River ROCK and READ, and we will be painting vocab words on rocks this summer!  Click here for the daily word list.

 The 2nd Annual Kindergarten RoundUp and PreK Party will be held on Saturday, February 25, 2017 at the Indian River Mall from 10 am - 2 pm.  Bring your children to this fun event, and register for kindergarten or the voluntary preK programs offered in our County!

Families of children pre-K to kindergarten are invited to the third annual Pre-K Party and Kindergarten RoundUp on February 24, 2018 at the Indian River Mall!

On December 3, 2016, The Learning Alliance will host a Moonshot Institue Workshop: Stories of Place: Exploring the Practice and Possibilities of Placemaking, with national expert Donald King.  Scholarships are available for Indian River County educators and Moonshot Community Action Network members.

 Vero Beach, Florida -   November 14, 2016 was the third annual Moonshot Moment Day of Service in Indian River County.  Activities included a community tour at Vero Beach Elementary, guest readers in the elementary schools, a Pacesetter award presentation to over 175 people at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, and a "Book Em" event from the Indian River County Sheriff's Department to distribute free books to children.    The Day of Service was a showcase and celebration of the Moonshot Moment, our County's collective goal to achieve 90% literacy by the end of third grade. 

On July 14, 2016, we celebrated "national summer learning day" in Indian River County!  Here's a video that recaps the events:  https://youtu.be/JLvdQ7q6l4U

We launched a Moonshot Moment bookmobile to "stop the summer slide!"  We are visitng six locations each week, Monday through Saturday, to give away free books to children.  Our goal is to help every family have a home library with age-appropriate books.  For more information, contact Marie O'Brien at The Learning Alliance, at 877-548-7323 (READ).    View the event video here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Cehuhs768

 Vero Beach, Florida – The John’s Island Foundation has awarded a $50,000 grant toThe Learning Alliance to support the Moonshot Academy elementary schools with tools that will aid them in providing improved literacy instruction.  The grant funds will cover the following:

 The "Moonshot Million Pages" campaign is designed to get all readers in Indian River County, Florida to supporty the Moonshot Moment, by logging the pages that they read to see how quickly our County can read one million pages! 

Indian River County Moonshot Moment Receives National Pacesetter Award from the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading!

Indian River County has been honored as a Pacesetter by the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading for making measurable progress on eliminating barriers faced by children from low-income families on the path to becoming proficient readers.

 The Moonshot Moment kindergarten Readiness Collaborative will host a 'Kindergarten RoundUp and Preschool/Toddler Extravaganza" on February 27, 2016, at the Indian River Mall in Vero Beach, from 10 am - 2 pm.

A group of thirty Moonshot Moment literacy leaders and School District representatives will meet with Heidi Guber for a Visioning session to plan for the nexgt community-wide Moonshot Moment events.

 The Moonshot Moment and Smart Baby Ambassadors will have a booth at the Unity in the Community event at Oslo Middle School on December 12, 2015.  

The Senior Resource Association and its GoLine bus have partnered with the Moonshot Moment!  We'll unveil our partnership in the Vero Beach Holiday Parade on Saturday, December 5 -- rain or shine!

The Learning Alliance is organizing a Moonshot Moment "Page it Forward" book collection, to end on November 3, 2015 – the 2^nd annual Moonshot Moment Day of Service.  Organizations can support the Moonshot Moment by collecting new or gently used books for children ages one through 12 (up to grade 5.)  The books will be given to children in Indian River County.

October 12 - November 10:  Moonshot Masterpiece social media campaign!  Visit the Moonshot Museum Masterpieces located at the Gifford Youth Achievement Center and in the 13 elementary schools in Indian River County.  Take a selfie photo or video at the Masterpiece and upload it to our social media sites with hashtag #moonshotmoment.  The one with the most likes/favorites will win a great grand prize, and their classroom wins a pizza and ice cream party!  (Visit verobeachmuseum.org for a map of the Masterpieces.

The annual Jungle Club 5K Run, Indian River County’s premier 5K race, is in its 24th year and once again, the beneficiary will be the County's Moonshot Moment!  Your participation in the race/walk will support the Moonshot Moment, and the Moonshot Sports group of coaches who are working with their student athletes toward our 90% literacy goal!  Registration forms are available online here.

Moonshot Moment "Read and Roll"

FREE Skate Factory Celebration

Saturday, August 29, 2015, 5 – 7 pm

Reading over the summer months will help to “stop the summer slide!”  This party is to celebrate those students who did summer reading!  (It’s not too late!  This party is a great incentive to get kids reading now, or for them to continue to read.)

Print this pass and join us on 8/29 between 5 - 7 pm for the free end-of-summer celebration to promote the Moonshot Moment literacy goal: 90% of students reading on grade level by the end of third grade by 2018! (Skate rental not included.)

Indian River Community Foundation is proud to announce the first grant award from the Quail Valley Charities Nonprofit Collaboration Fund.

To highlight the importance of summer learning, the Moonshot Moment Summer/Afterschool Team will host the first annual Free Family Pajama Pizza Party on June 19, 2015 at the Heritage Center at 2140 14th Avenue in Vero Beach, FL from 5:30 – 7:30 pm.   The event is free, but registration is required.

 On April 18, 2015, over 600 people lined up on the football field of Sebastian River High School to celebrate the Moonshot Moment.

 On April 18, 2015, the Moonshot Sports group of Indian River County coaches and athletes, will host the second annual "Read Across the Field" event!  This year's event will be held at the Sebastian River High School track meet, from 8:00 - 8:45 a.m., just before the all-county elementary school track meet.  Join us as we bring together the largest group of readers ever together in one place, to line up in the shape of the Moonshot Moment rocket.

Sue Curtis of The Learning Alliance is coordinating the "Smart Baby Ambassador's group" to share the message of "Read. Talk. Play. Sing. Create Smart Babies!" with the underserved and minority communities of Indian River County.

Our Moonshot Sports group is growing -- and having fun along the way!  Over 80 athletes and their coaches walked with our Moonshot Sports float in the Vero Beach Holiday Parade on December 6, 2014.

The Moonshot Moment goal is to have 90% of children reading on grade level by the end of third grade in 2018.  An invitation-only event, scheduled for 9/27/14, "Litreacy Off the Page" event will introduce the new partnership with the Vero Beach Museum of Art and how the "Power of the Arts" will be used to develop reading milestones that will help our children achieve this reading goal!

November 12 - Moonshot Moment Day of Service

Show your support for the County's Moonshot Moment goal to have 90% of all children reading on grade level by the end of third grade in 2018!  Participate in one of the many "Day of Service" activities planned, ranging from donating new or used children's books to reading to a classroom or volunteering at a school. 

The annual Jungle Club 5K Run, Indian River County’s premier 5K race, is in its 23rd year, and is scheduled for October 4 at 7:30 a.m., and proceeds will go to the Moonshot Moment!

This year’s chosen charity is  “Moonshot Sports” -- Coaches working together to leverage their influence with student athletes, to achieve the Moonshot Moment goal - 90% of children reading on grade level by the end of third grade by 2018.

 Students can lose up to 25% of their reading level over the summer.  Sign up for our Text Alert Program for weekly tips and suggestions on how to prevent this "summer slide" and keep your child learning while enjoying the summer break.

June 20, 2014 -

Summer Learning Day is a national advocacy day recognized to spread awareness about the importance of summer learning for our nation’s youth in helping close the achievement gap and support healthy development in communities all across the country.

In Indian River County, Florida, we are celebrating Summer Learning Day at several locations throughout the county -- giving away free books to children; teaching them a fun 'summer learning day rap song; and making the day a celebration.

We are having a great reading celebration on March 3, 2014.  Our special guest speaker is children's author, Marc Brown, of the ARTHUR books and cartoon series.  Join other preschool and elementary school families for this fun and entertaining event to celebrate Moonshot Moments and literacy in Indian River County.

To celebrate national "Read Across America" day, our "Moonshot Sports" group is hosting a "Read Across the Field" event on April 23, 2014 at 4:30 p.m.  This record-breaking event will have the largest number of people reading in one place, at the same time, in Indian River County history.  Everyone is encouraged to attend this free event to support literacy! 

What an honor!  Indian River County has geen recognized as a national Pacesetter from the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, because of our community's work supporting the Moonshot Moment literacy goal!

We are making national news with our "Moonshot Moment" 90% literacy goal as part of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.

To celebrate Literacy Week, the Moonshot Sports group will be participating in the Indian River Soccer Association season kickoff event.  Please come by the Hobart soccer fields, located at 6310 77th Street, Vero Beach, FL 32967, between 10 am - 12 noon to enjoy this fun event and to pick up free books for your child.

On 9/14/2013, from 3pm - 5 pm, the Moonshot Sports group will host a Family Fun Day at GYAC.  Local coaches and teams will provide demos (karate, basketball, lacross, tennis, etc.) and lessons, guest readers will be sharing their favorite books with children ages 2 through 10, Nemours BrightStart! will provide tips for kindergarten success, free pizza for participating families, and our local scholar athletes will be available to talk about their favorite sports -- while we join together to celebrate Literacy Week.

On 9/4/13, the Scripps VERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY ran a story about Moonshot Sports.  The article included our Motto and information about our upcoming kickoff event scheduled for 9/14 at GYAC from 3 - 5 p.m.

The August 16, 2013 issue of HOMETOWN NEWS featured an article written by Brittany Llorente describing the new "Moonshot Sports" group of coaches working together to promote literacy in Indian River County.

As seen in the July 17, 2013 issue of VERO BEACHSIDE NEWS, the Indian River Community Foundation has provided grants totaling $235,000 to local nonprofit organizations.  The Big Brothers Big Sisters organization received a grant for $40,000 to assist 50 pre-kindergarten students to become ready for kindergarten through one-on-one mentoring and family literacy activities.

Fellsmere Elementary was the host site for a community-wide event to bring local business leaders, parents and teachers together to support the Moonshot Moment.

 A group of local nonprofit leaders have joined forces to tackle the issues related to child development from birth through age five.  This group will work together to identify the literacy barriers that need to be addressed with this group, such as having children be ready for kindergarten.  It's a great step toward achieving the Moonshot Moment literacy goal!

The first installation of the two-week temporary art exhibit was done today, with our FACES poster paste ups at each of the 13 elementary schools in Indian River County.  Literacy Week begins on Monday, 1/14/2013, and we are excited that the children and their families will see the posters as soon when they arrive at school.

We are participating in the insideoutproject.net, to create a two-week public art display called "Faces:  Help Me Read; It Changes Who We Become!" to get our community involved in the discussion about improving childhood literacy.  Event schedule available here.

As a way to kickoff the District's Moonshot Moment goal of 90% literacy by third grade, we worked with the School District of Indian River county to celebrate Literacy Day on Spetember 7, 2012.