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April 12, 2002/Nisan 30, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 30
Reading the night away
Vicki Cabot
Contributing Editor
Sneaking in a few more pages, huddled under the covers with a flashlight.
Begging mom for just one more story before bedtime.
Snuggling up on daddy's lap with a dog-eared favorite.
"Clifford the Big Red Dog," "Green Eggs and Ham," "Where the Red Fern Grows" - these are the stuff of reading memories, some our own, some we've been blessed to share with children and grandchildren.
They are what made many of us book lovers, lifetime readers, sometime writers. They are what gave us an appreciation of the written word, of the power of language, of the breadth and depth of ideas that can lie between the covers. They are what piqued our imaginations and afforded us a peek at worlds far from home.
In short, reading expanded our horizons.
But for many of Arizona's children, the potential for creating a storehouse of reading memories, and a new generation of avid readers, is dim.
Many come from homes where the glow of the television is the only light they see from under the covers, where parents work all day and barely have time to catch the news on TV much less read to their kids.
But reading, beyond its many pleasures, is fundamental.
"It's the foundation for future learning," explains Renee Newman, a full-time education faculty member at Northern Arizona University, and a volunteer trainer for the Phoenix Jewish Coalition for Literacy. Newman led an orientation session for literacy volunteers earlier this year. The local Jewish literacy effort is a project of the Federation's Jewish Community Relations Council.
Newman explains that many of Arizona's schoolchildren come from families where "nobody reads or writes." Deprived of role models, students come to school with delayed spoken language skills, critical to becoming proficient readers.
Also, many are not native language speakers. In some schools where literacy programs are operating, children come from 24 countries and speak 27 languages.
That's where the volunteers come in.
They commit to an hour a week, reading one-on-one with students.
"It makes reading fun," says second-grade teacher Brenda Scheneman, "and that's important."
Not only do teachers see improved reading skills, but enhanced class participation, self-esteem and motivation, as well.
Currently there are 65 adult volunteers working with students in six schools. The program has nearly trebled since last year and recently added a new component - pairing day school students with new readers in public schools. Nine Pardes Middle School students are working with 22 second-graders at Esperanza School in the Deer Valley School District. Next year, the student-to-student component will be expanded as will the geographic reach of the program, adding two elementary schools in the East Valley, says JCRC Director Cathy Wolf.
Help create a new generation of readers. Call Wolf at 602-274-1800, ext. 135, and sign on. And if you're lucky, you might even get to read "Cat in the Hat" again.
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