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RADENA RUTHERFORD, Cherokee Nation Realty Services and a member of the third annual Early Childhood Unit’s RIF Book Selection Committee, checks out a book to make sure it is appropriate for the children in the ECU programs.

STILWELL, OKLAHOMA - What do the Stilwell Elementary School, the Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) program, the Cherokee Nation Realty Department, and the Cherokee Nation Early Childhood Unit have in common? Radena Rutherford.

Rutherford, an employee of Cherokee Nation Realty Services for more than six years, participated in the RIF program as a first grader at the Stilwell Elementary School and now is an active member of the Cherokee Nation Early Childhood Unit’s third annual RIF Book Selection committee.

This committee selects books for the upcoming year that will be distributed to children of the ECU programs -- Head Start, Early Head Start and Child Care. Family and community members provide input by choosing books that interest local classrooms and communities.

"This type of input into the program makes it a true 'Family of Readers' program", said Ramona Drew, RIF coordinator for ECU.

RIF-Family of Readers is a federally funded program that began in 1966. RIF prepares and motivates children to read by delivering free books and literacy resources to those children and families needing them the most. The RIF program fosters children’s literacy by reading motivation, family and community involvement, and providing training/resources. As a testament to the effectiveness of the RIF program, Rutherford still remembers all the details of the book she was able to select to take home through the RIF program. "It was the biography of Quanah Parker, in Ms. Parson’s first grade class", Rutherford said. For more information about the RIF-Family of Readers program within the Cherokee Nation Early Childhood Unit or being a guest reader in our classrooms, please call Ramona Drew, phone: 918-458-4393.

Related contact information:

Mike Miller, Cherokee Nation Director of Communications Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2210) Fax: 918-458-5580 E-mail: Communications@cherokee.org Larry Daugherty, Advertising Manager Cherokee Nation - Public Affairs Phone 918-456-0671 (Ex.2324) E-mail: ldaugherty@cherokee.org

Steven Swogger, Agriculture Liaison Natural Resources Department Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2546) FAX: 918-458-7673 E-mail: sswogger@cherokee.org Bradley D. Peak, Cherokee Nation Natural Resources Specialist Phone: 918-456-0671 (ex.2843) E-mail: bpeak@cherokee.org