News | Article from Inland Valley Daily Bulletin & The Sun

Reading Buddies program catches on

By Carolyn G. Schatz, Staff Writer

Fontana (November 1, 2007) - Promoting literacy can be as easy as sitting down and reading to the kids. But it doesn't always happen in the home.

Not every child has the benefit of a parent or mentor to cozy up with for an afternoon reading or a bedtime story. Reading Buddies seeks to provide that special hour of story time for grade-schoolers, primarily K-3, by using adult volunteers as role models in the classroom.

Reading Buddies is a program run by the San Bernardino County superintendent of schools that encourages business and civic leaders in the community to donate an hour of their time once a month to read to kids in a classroom setting. The partnership is an asset to educators and the community.

"Reading Buddies is a terrific program that promotes literacy through community involvement," said county Superintendent of Schools Herb Fischer. "We all have a stake in the education of our children, and this program brings together our communities to help foster a lifelong love of learning."

Through Reading Buddies, school districts and site principals partner with chambers of commerce and community service organizations to involve committed adults in the process of encouraging a love of reading early on.

Reading aloud to children helps ingrain the importance of reading as a lifelong skill. If children have not learned to read by the third grade, their chance at academic success is significantly dimmed.

Fischer got the idea for Reading Buddies when he was invited to visit and read at Linda Vista Elementary in Ontario in 2000 through the "Roadway to Reading" program. There, an Ontario businessman worked with the school to have his employees read to students.

Through Reading Buddies, crafted by program manager Linda Miranda, schoolchildren get an extra chance to learn, and community and business leaders get a chance to partner with the schools and practice hands-on learning.

"Schools love it, and businesses in the community love it," said Christine McGrew, spokeswoman for the superintendent's office.

The county's program, initiated in 2001 on the West End, continues to grow and expand, McGrew said. "It's really positive and popular," she said.

Sixteen schools have participated in the program, including schools in San Bernardino City Unified, Colton Joint Unified, Rialto Unified, Ontario-Montclair, Central and Victor Elementary school districts.

Several schools have launched Reading Buddies in the last couple of months, with events scheduled once a month. Schools in Fontana Unified, Redlands Unified, Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified and others are set to join.

The idea of reading to kids seems to be catching on, with Inland Empire United Way's Hands On program initiating its own Read to Kids! program Nov. 10.

The Read to Kids! project is dedicated to inspiring children from underserved communities and motivating them to read. The first beneficiaries will be kindergartners through fifth-graders at Virginia Primrose Elementary in Fontana Unified.

Volunteers will read from a variety of titles under the theme "Fantasy, Folklore and Fairy Tales."

They include "Abuela," by Arthur Dorros, for kindergartners; "Imogene's Antlers," by David Small, for first-graders; "Abiyoyo," by Pete Seeger, for second-graders; "Heckedy Peg," by Audrey Wood, for third-graders; "The Dragons are Singing Tonight," by Jack Prelutsky, for fourth-graders; and "Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones," by Alvin Schwartz, for fifth-graders.

The 9 a.m. to noon program will continue the second Saturday of each month.

Students will each get a free book, and participants will do an arts-and-crafts project related to the book they read.

"If the kid reads a book on tigers, they'll draw some jungle-scapes, so they get a better comprehension of what they're reading," said program manager Larry Deckel.

Reading programs are also a plus for adults who like to volunteer their time to doing something worthwhile. "Hands On knows that volunteers like promoting literacy," Deckel said.

carolyn.schatz@sbsun.com, (909) 386-3845

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