Country Music Marathon
April 26, 2008

About 'The Ultimate Race' : For those of you who are new to the 'Ultimate Race', in the fall of 2004, I began teaching reading to William, a seven-year old boy with Down syndrome. Shortly thereafter, I decided to run in a marathon (26.2 miles), however, I needed a focused purpose for running. Thus, the idea to form Team William was born. For the next three years, I ran in the Country Music Marathon in honor of William. My purpose was to raise scholarship monies for children like William, who have Down syndrome and who can benefit from individualized reading instruction. One hundred percent of the monies raised during these three years has been deposited into an endowment fund (The William Hart Spickard Andrea Blake McDermott Team William Endowment Fund). The fund currently provides reading scholarships at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Reading Clinic. With collective support, we have raised just under $100,000.00.

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Reading Clinic: The Reading Clinic, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is part of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, a Developmental Disabilities Research Center which disseminates research findings nationwide. At the Reading Clinic, students meet with tutors and receive research-based one-on-one instruction which is monitored and assessed. 

Current Research: In the summer and fall of 2007, a total of 24 students with Down syndrome (between the ages of 7-16) participated in a reading intervention program. Supported by a Discovery Grant from the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, students received 30 hours of one-on-one instruction. The intervention program focused on: phonological awareness, letter and letter-combination sounds and the reading of decodable and sight words. Initial results indicated that the intervention was beneficial for nearly all students. Information gathered from this pilot study will be used to enhance the intervention for future work. Principal investigators include: Drs. Don Compton, Doug Fuchs, Lynn Fuchs, Bob Hodapp and Paul Yoder. For more information about the research, contact Chris Lemons at: chris.lemons@vanderbilt.edu

2007-2008 Scholarship Recipient: Brian was the first child to be awarded a scholarship from our endowment fund. He began attending the Reading Clinic in January 2005. Brian has made progress in all areas of phonological awareness, which is the foundation for learning to read. In addition, his ability to identify sounds and words has increased. In April 2006, he was able to read 5 words correctly on the standardized achievement test. As of December 2007, he read 32 words correctly.

Present Situation: 25 to 30 students will be attending the Reading Clinic this spring. The Team William Endowment currently has a funded balance of $96,827.00 and generates approximately $3,800+ in interest annually, which is set aside specifically for children with Downs. At present, the endowment provides enough money to send one child to the Clinic for slightly more than a year (the cost to attend a single semester is $1,080. There are three sessions annually).  

Support: On April 26th, I will be running in the Country Music Marathon once again to increase the endowment principal. Please help us break $100K in monies raised and increase scholarship opportunities for children with Downs. If you would like to help, make your check payable to Vanderbilt University (For: Team William Endowment) and send it to:

V.K.C. Reading Clinic
c/o Anderson & Margaret Spickard
2156 Chickering Lane
Nashville, TN 37215

Donations are tax-exempt, and the necessary forms will be mailed to you upon receipt of your contribution. For more information, visit: http://www.teamwilliam.org Thank you for your on-going interest, love and support!         

Andrea Blake McDermott