ALTON - Neighborhoods have grown quiet during the day and traffic includes quite a few yellow buses, back to school is a also an exciting time for approximately 200 special community members.
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On September 5, volunteers will begin showing up in schools for Reach Out and Read (ROAR). This team is committed to the development of literacy in our community by providing students with extra reading practice before school.
When waiting for school to start, first and second grade students throughout the Alton School District are anxious to practice reading to a volunteer. Staff members use their prep time to coordinate the routine so that visitors spend their time enjoying the children.
What does the volunteer do? Listen, encourage, help when needed and enjoy the book with the student. The one-on-one attention provides each student with guided practice in books carefully chosen based on the student’s reading goal. This program thrives because the students are intrinsically motivated to practice reading because they enjoy the interaction with the volunteer.
Most community volunteers on the ROAR team choose one morning in their weekly routine to participate in ROAR for thirty minutes. Volunteers simply come when they can. On any given day you will see bankers, lawyers, health care professionals, ministers, retirees and high school students sign in to participate.
The design of the program is flexible, so when the volunteer cannot come on their routine day, there’s no problem. Sounds simple, right? The design is very simple, but the rewards are profound.
Over three years in the program, data demonstrates that students who participate in Reach Out and Read on a regular basis have greater reading gains than average. Of course students learn far more from these ROAR friends than just reading. Each morning the children are learning communication skills, manners, and self discipline. Beyond that, students are learning a life lesson: We live in an amazing community where people care about our children.
If you would like to spend thirty minutes listening to students in your community read, please contact Elaine Kane, ekane@altonschools.org/618-433-7825.
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