Scottish Rite to Present $82,000 to Baylor Literacy Program July 27

The Waco Scottish Rite Bodies will present a total of $82,000 to Camp Success and the Baylor University language and literacy clinic at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 27, in the Neill Morris Building on the Baylor campus. Claude Ervin, chair of Waco Scottish Rite Bodies and Harold E Jackson Jr., chair of the Waco Scottish Rite Charitable Foundation, will present a $57,000 check for Camp Success and $25,000 for teacher salaries to operate the communication disorders clinic this fall at Baylor. Grant Teaff, who served as honorary chair for the Scottish Rite Charitable Golf Tournament in spring 2005, also will attend.
Camp Success, which has had phenomenal success since 2003 helping children overcome reading difficulties, bases its approach on research conducted by the program's director, Dr. Michaela Ritter, associate professor in Baylor's department of communication sciences and disorders.
Ritter will receive the checks Wednesday. "We are so thankful for what the Scottish Rite has done for Baylor and for our clients," she said.
"The money they raise has helped so many children get intensive language and reading intervention. It's amazing how much they've given, not only money but also in service," Ritter added.
Ritter said Camp Success began two weeks ago with children who could not sound out complete words. Today, thanks to Camp Success, the students are able to break apart words and read and write sentences.
Camp Success currently has 57 children aged five to 18 enrolled for individual and small-group attention. Each child is receiving two hours of language intervention and an hour of instruction from a reading specialist each day. In four weeks, the students will achieve as much progress as a typical student would in one year.
The funds for Camp Success were raised through the Waco Scottish Rite Charitable Golf Tournament in April.
For more information, contact Ritter at 710-4745 or email Michaela_Ritter@baylor.edu.