Camelot Principal Deb Singley Works Overtime for Literacy

Camelot of the Quad Cities principal Deb Singley (blue jacket and scarf) with her fellow Delta Kappa Gamma members and lucky first graders from Ms. McDermott’s class at Logan School in Moline.

Being principal at a Camelot therapeutic day school is more than a full-time job but somehow, Debra (Deb) Singley, principal at Camelot of the Quad Cities, finds time to go above and beyond her job to help children at other schools in the Moline, IL area.

Last week, Deb was recognized by the local Delta Kappa Gamma chapter, of which she chairs the literacy committee, for successfully leading a project called “Cover Up and Read.” The program promotes literacy with Quad Cities public school students.

“Teachers sent applications to our committee and we chose five first grade classrooms and presented a hand-made fleece blanket and a book to each child in each of those classrooms,” Deb said. “In all, we served about 150 students.”

Deb and her fellow chapter members helped to make the blankets and then selected appropriate age reading level, mainly non-fiction books, and then visited the classrooms and made the deliveries.

“We talked to the children about the importance and fun of reading; we read an after school book to the students and then left the books and the blankets. Each of the blankets included a different pattern, and each child got to choose their personal blanket.”

At the end of the school year, the children take their blankets and books home so they can continue to enjoy the comfort of their blankets while reading during summer break.

So how does Deb Singley find time to do this kind of good deed in addition to all those hours helping Camelot special needs kids?

“To tell you the truth, I volunteered for this when I thought I was going to retire,” Deb says with a laugh. “But seriously, I feel very strongly about literacy and like all of us, you make the time for the things that are important to us.”

Moline and Camelot are lucky to have Deb Singley.