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Ky’s diversified professional experience in education, nonprofit management and communications provides a welcomed addition to Read to a Childs’ Detroit efforts. The 10 -year industry veteran has an exceptional capacity for building strategic partnerships and has directed marketing strategies and overseen brand development initiatives, consumer and field marketing activities, advertising and public relations. Her keen market knowledge has translated into her ability to produce substantial business development results building organizations from the ground up and increasing existing organizations market power. Ky’s relationships with the local, state and federal government as well as a multitude of educational, nonprofit and community leaders allow her to leverage resources that can expand our organizational reach and leverage resources. She is very passionate about education and is committed to identifying ways to reduce the achievement gap in urban communities. Her favorite book is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and is excited to share her joy of reading with children in the Metro Detroit area.
Grinch Stole Xmas from Dan Sturman on Vimeo.
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By: Karen Kelley, CDMSmith employee and dedicated Read to a Child volunteer for seven years
CDM Smith has been participating in Read to a Child’s lunchtime reading program for eight years through our CDM Smith Cares program. Read to a Child pairs volunteer reading mentors from the business world with elementary school students to promote reading and literacy skills. Mentors and students read together over the child’s lunchtime for an hour each week. This is a really great opportunity for our employees to make the time to volunteer in the community, even though we have highly committed schedules outside of work. It is also possible to “share” a student so that the time commitment is only twice a month.
As a water resources engineer and a seven-year volunteer with this program, I can tell you that it is sometimes difficult to get away for an hour at lunch, but it’s always a good break and provides lots of inspiration when returning to work in the afternoon. The kids love the one-on-one interaction with their mentors. One of my students, Jonathan, an immigrant from Haiti with a past full of trauma from the earthquake in his homeland, was at first very timid and shy. But by the end of his first year in the program, he would get so intensely involved in the books that he practically ended up sitting in my lap. Over the next two years, he developed a growing fascination with animals, especially dinosaurs, which he would draw for me with life-like expressions while we read together. Plant-eaters were generally smiling, while the carnivores were fierce. We talked about what he would “be” when he grew up, and he said he wanted to become an illustrator. I tried to introduce fiction, but Jonathan was uninterested. All he wanted to know was facts about animals. One day, he wanted to read about spiders, so we asked the librarian for help in locating a book on them, but we soon found they were “too scary,” and we went back to reading about dinosaurs.
Jonathan challenged me with his questions about extinction and dinosaur bones, no doubt trying to understand some of the recent events in his own tumultuous life. At the end of our third year together, despite starting the program with a very limited English vocabulary, he had come so far in building his reading skills that he could pronounce all of the dinosaur names for me, even the newly discovered ones that I had never heard of, and he could tell me all about their eating habits and physical characteristics. Some dinosaurs had feathers! When I presented him with a wrapped book at the end of the program in the spring, I was amused when he wondered out loud what it would be about. He clutched the book to his chest in happiness and immediately started reading when he discovered it was – what else? – a children’s illustrated encyclopedia of dinosaurs.
When I look back at our time together, I realize he taught me every bit as much as I taught him. Participating makes me feel great about being a CDM Smith employee.
Here is a picture that Jonathan drew for me while we were reading about “silver-tooth” tigers (saber-tooth tigers). He insisted they were “silver-tooth” tigers.
“Read to a Child” program a boost for kids
By: Jim Ash
Posted November 28, 2014
Shown in picture, first grader Beyonce Ayala is all smiles during her first session with mentor, Deb Hollett.
A national reading outreach program, “Read to a Child,” was introduced locally at Richer School earlier this year with hopes of boosting student performance by matching children with volunteer mentors/readers. Specifically, the mission of Read to a Child is to increase children’s success in reading and in life by inspiring adults to read to them regularly. At the same time, the program offers willing volunteers with a proven, “turnkey” opportunity to have a positive impact on kids.
The program is currently being offered to first graders at Richer. However, as more volunteers become available, the goal is for the program to expand to other grades. Linda Winin, Read to a Child’s Program Coordinator for this area, is currently seeking willing local companies to promote the idea as a meaningful way for their employees to serve the community.
The initial launch of the program at Richer School began with recommendations made by first grade teachers who were asked to identify children in their classrooms who meet one or more of three key criteria – they are behind their age group in reading proficiency; they would benefit from the attention of a caring adult; and/or they are not read to at home.
Each of Richer’s six, first grade teachers were asked to identify four students who met the criteria, resulting in a list of twenty-four children awaiting mentor/readers. As volunteers become available, parents are informed of the opportunity and asked to sign off on the program. Once approval is granted and a match is made, the volunteers visit the school once a week to read with their partner child during lunchtime.
Currently, ten matches have been made, so there remains a significant need for more volunteers to step forward. Each of the corporate partners has made a donation to the program and promoted the opportunity to their employees. As the program becomes more widely known in Marlborough, Winin is hopeful that more companies will sign on so that matches can be found for everyone on Richer’s list of twenty-four first graders.
According to Winin, research indicates that the simple act of regularly reading aloud to a child significantly impacts his or her literacy skills and, thus, his or her likelihood for success. Read to a Child’s 2012-2013 annual report, indicates that 88% of first-year students improved in one or more of the following areas – vocabulary, listening comprehension, ability to articulate thoughts, self-confidence, enthusiasm for books and reading, and overall reading ability.
Reading mentor, Deb Hollett, is now in her fourth year serving as a mentor/reader. She began in 2011 after being matched with a second grade girl in Framingham. “I did not know the need was there,” she said. The pair hit it off right away and Hollett said it was a positive experience from the start.
Hollett continued to meet regularly with the same student all the way through fourth grade. “It was nice to see how excited she would be to get together,” Hollett said. When her job moved to Marlborough, it became a natural fit for Hollett to help get Richer’s program off the ground.
Courtney Treadwell also began as a mentor/reader in Framingham and switched to Richer School this year. As a longtime volunteer in the schools, Treadwell said she was well aware of the importance of reading. She mentored the same boy for two years during his time in grades two and three.
Treadwell found it initially difficult to connect with her student who was not that interested at first and was hesitant to open up. Nevertheless, she persevered, and slowly over time she began to see positive progress. “It was much easier the second year,” she said.
Mary Garner serves as the school coordinator for the Read to a Child program at Richer. As a regular volunteer at the school and current co-president of the PTO, the coordinator position is a natural extension of work she had been doing. She is very positive about what she has seen so far and hopeful the program will grow. “The kids are really excited about it and looking forward to when their readers come in,” she said.
Given the circumstances faced by the children who are selected for the program, some will require more time than others to fully embrace the experience. Training is provided to all volunteers to help with the process. “We aim to make sure that a partnership with Read to a Child allows for employees to have an exceptionally enjoyable and convenient volunteer opportunity,” said Winin.
In 2012-2013, approximately 1,400 reading mentors engaged in 35,000 hours of individualized reading sessions in the Boston, Detroit, Hartford, Los Angeles, and Miami regions. With the program now available in Marlborough, Winin will be working to recruit companies not only to match mentors to the remaining first graders on the list, but also to expand to other grades and provide coverage for next year’s collection of new first graders.
For more information about the program, visit www.readtoachild.org. To inquire about participating, contact Winin by phone at 617-670-0881 or send her an email to linda.winin@readtoachild.org.
This story is taken from the Fall/Winter 2014 edition of “Panther Pride,” a publication of the Main Street Journal produced in partnership with Marlborough Public Schools. The print edition of Panther Pride is included as a second section with this week’s (November 29th) Main Street Journal.
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