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SMART gets new regional manager The Oregon Children's Foundation has announced the promotion of Cameron McCandless to southwest region manager of its SMART reading program. She most recently served as the program's Rogue Valley area manager, serving both Jackson and Josephine counties. During her tenure as the area manager, she oversaw the growth of the SMART program from five schools to almost 30. SMART - Start Making A Reader Today - was founded by former Oregon Gov. Neil Goldschmidt a decade ago to address two issues he recognized while in office - children's lagging reading skills and fewer volunteers in schools. Through the SMART program, adult volunteers are matched with kindergarten through third-grade students for an hour of individualized reading time each week. Last school year, SMART served 10,000 children statewide and was recognized for the measurable academic strides being made by its participants. In Jackson County, the program reached more than 1,000 students in the past school year, As region manager, McCandless will supervise the work of six area managers who serve 10 Oregon counties. The region already has the program established in 112 elementary schools. McCandless says the emphasis for the future will be more on shoring up and improving existing programs than on expansion. "Because we have some of the longest-tenured SMART areas in the state within this region, we have only modest growth before us," she said. "This region will demonstrate a strong focus on maintaining program quality and service toward the needs of children. "Structures we've put in place in our region will be replicated in other regions. We, in essence, act as a proving ground for methodologies that will be able to be used elsewhere." McCandless holds a bachelor's degree in English from Mount Holyoke College and completed graduate work in ethics and theology at New College of Berkeley, Calif. Before working for the Oregon Children's Foundation, she was a commercial loan officer for Union Bank in San Francisco. She and her husband, Stephen, are the parents of two daughters - 11-year-old Cailey and 7-year-old Meghan. One of her first duties as region manager is to fill the Rogue Valley area manager position. Interviews are now under way. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.