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Youth Reading Role Models: Stories of Success
By: Bruce Edwards
Communications Specialist
City Heights Educational Pilot Post
March 5, 2001
What’s the best gift to give a preschooler? Play-Doh, Poo-chi, Power
Rangers? Those are OK for a birthday present, but if you want it to last longer
than an AA battery, the best gift you can give a child is reading to them. That’s
exactly what Hoover student volunteers are doing through Youth Reading Role
Models, a community service program run by the United Through Reading.
Since the organization came to Hoover six years ago, over 350 students have
volunteered to read to preschool children each week for an entire semester.
Their contributions to the community are especially valuable when you consider
some statistics: only 50% of American children are read to; one in three
Kindergarten student begin school unprepared to learn; and over 20% of adults
are functionally illiterate.
Through Youth Reading Role Models, Hoover students foster the joy of reading
in children and provide positive role models at the Urban Village and Home
Avenue Head Start centers. The United Through Reading has also found that
the program benefits the volunteer readers as well. Student report that they
read more for their own enjoyment, become more committed to finishing high
school, and improve their language skills.
Equally important is the gratitude volunteers receive from the kids they work
with and the feeling of doing something positive for the community. "I
learned to be patient with kids, how to talk to them, get them involved while I
read, and make them feel that reading is fun," reflected Hoover student
Alicia Manriquez. "When I would finish reading, they would ask me if I was
coming back tomorrow, and a few times someone would cry because they wouldn’t
want to leave when their parents came to pick them up."
When young children receive the gift of someone reading to them, they always
give something in return—big smiles, thank yous, and hugs of appreciation.
"I liked it because every time I went to read to the kids, they were happy
to see me and it made me feel wanted and good about myself," recalled Karla
XXXX, who participated in the program last year. "No one read to me when I
was a little girl, so I never knew how special it was to be read to."
The success of Youth Reading Role Models has attracted the support of the
Hoover Foundation and Hoover Student Alliance, which will help run the program
beginning this year. "I was impressed with the program and the people who
run it…. It’s straightforward, cost effective, and provides a powerful
benefit to all the participants," observed Hoover Foundation president Ken
McDill. Interested students and staff can learn more by going to the
organization’s website (www.read2kids.org)
or by contacting Rafael Monroy at Hoover’s Parent Center for details; (619)
283-6281, ext. 207.
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