CHAMPS for CHILDREN (Reading Corps Renaissance) IN it To WIN it!

2,500 TURN OUT FOR DPS READING CORPS

RALLY POWERS UP VOLUNTEERS

By LORI HIGGINS

FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER

 
There were raucous cheers. There were rousing speech es. Children sang and a string ensemble played. But this was no ordinary pep rally in the gymnasium at Renaissance High School on Saturday, be cause instead of cheering a sports team to victory, these adults were cheering to help kids learn to read.

In what may be one of the largest ef forts of its kind, Detroit Public Schools officially kicked off its Reading Corps program, which in a little more than a month has signed up 3,639 people from across metro Detroit — people who’ve committed to give 434,187 hours of their time over five years to tutor Detroit students.

About 2,500 of them came to a rally and training session at Renaissance, a cheerful and driven bunch that over flowed parking lots, forcing many to take shuttle buses from nearby schools. Robert Bobb, the emergency financial manager for DPS, called them champions for children and said that they will help the district meet its 2015 goal of every student reading at grade level or above by third grade.

There are other reading mentor pro grams around the country, said Rich ard Long, a director at the Internation al Reading Association, a group based in Newark, Del., adding that in the case of DPS, “the size and the quickness … is very impressive.” 


Reading tutors get fired up as they begin their training 

What to do: Make friends with child, talk about school, read a story, ask questions

By LORI HIGGINS

FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER

Robert Bobb is leading by example. He stood before thousands of volunteers who have signed up to help tutor Detroit students and said he has signed up to tutor at Jamieson Elementary School. And he made an admission.

“Not much intimidates me … but I am totally intimidated,” the emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools said about reading through the stack of materials that volunteers received.

Although student scores on a na tional exam prompted the creation of the Reading Corps volunteer pro gram, Bobb told the crowd that showed up for Saturday’s kickoff that DPS also has discovered, through a survey of principals, that 52% of stu dents in the district are not reading at grade level.

After a rally, the nearly 2,500 vol unteers broke into small groups for an orientation aimed at helping them be effective tutors for prekindergar ten students. Included was a 10-page handout that breaks down what the tutors are supposed to do each time they meet with their students, includ ing descriptions of various tasks. A separate 50-page handout shows them how to help the students with learning the alphabet.

“We want them to walk away with a feeling this is something they can do,” said Barbara Leatherwood-Peteet, a Reading Recovery teacher who helped lead one of the training ses sions.

The volunteers were given tips on how to read to children, how to talk to them about the text they read and ask questions about it. Most important, they were given instructions on how to start their mentor relationship: In the first five minutes of the first ses sion, for instance, the volunteer should share a brief story about his or her experience in school, ask the child about his or her school experiences and read “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

Seeing such a large group come out, Leatherwood-Peteet said, “was inspiring. I’m hoping their interest will continue to grow.”

Eunice Rose of Southfield signed up to volunteer because “I’m sick of these children not knowing how to read. It’s very sad.”

She said it’s important, though, not to blame teachers.

“If they don’t have books in their homes, if they’re not read to from the time they’re infants, then teachers have a horrible time getting them to learn to read. So obviously the teach ers need help. And that’s what we’re here for.”

Last week, DPS announced that more than 20 businesses and organi zations had signed on, offering a com bined total of more than 10,000 volun teer hours from their employees and members. Those groups will get on site training on yet-to-be determined dates.

Volunteers were entertained Sat urday by student groups. They also heard from speakers including Free Press Editor and Publisher Paul An ger; Yvette Bing, Mayor Dave Bing’s wife, and Detroit City Council Presi dent Charles Pugh.

Pugh told the crowd that it doesn’t matter how many new buildings are erected in the city, nor how many businesses are attracted to the city if the school district doesn’t improve.

“It will not matter if our children do not learn the way they deserve to learn,” Pugh said.

“You mean hope to a lot of chil dren,” he told the volunteers.

Bobb said he’s optimistic that with the help of the volunteers, the district can and will change.

“We can win the battle for our chil dren,” Bobb said. “Failure is not an option.” 

Bobb rallies volunteers: ‘We can win the battle for our children’

Here’s some of what Robert Bobb said at Saturday’s Reading Corps rally. 

CHAMPS:  “This program and today’s event is a historic gathering of champions for children.

And, Detroit, let me tell you, we need thou sands of champions for children.”  

FROM ALL OVER:  “This army of volunteers includes not only more than 1,100 Detroit residents, but

■  215 from Southfield,

■  127 from Royal Oak,

■  120 from Farmington Hills

■  and 105 from West Bloomfield.

“Our champions come from Dearborn and Ferndale and Beverly Hills and Harper Woods, and from Romulus and Ypsilanti and Brighton and Saline.

“In fact, our volunteers come from 138 different municipalities and jurisdictions.

“Those signing up even include two from Windsor, one from Gladwin, one from Chicago and one from Cape Coral, Fla.

“You are among the 3,639 volunteers repre senting  approximately 434,187 hours of volun teer time commitment.” 

CHANGE AGENTS:  “There are two reasons one can choose to take on a cause and volunteer: First, to give back to the community, and, second, because you want to change the world. I believe that you are here, probably for some measure of both reasons, but primarily because you want to change the world.

“Our goal is that by 2015, every child in the Detroit Public Schools will be reading at grade level or above by third grade. Our students need you to help us make that happen. … It can be done. It must be done. I believe togeth er we can make that happen for every child.”  

GIFT OF READING:  “There can be no greater movement we can create, nor greater gift we can give a child than the ability to read.

“The children are our present and future leaders. Our community, we, depend upon them. We must equip them properly for 21st-  Century learning so that our kids can lead lives of prosperity, promise and productivity. “We can make that 2015 goal. We can win the battle for our children. Failure is not an option. When this district’s leaders fail, when our schools fail, when our systems fail, our children fail. Today, we establish that here in Detroit, that failing our children is not an option.” 

CLOSING MINUTE: “Finally, I would like to share with you the words to a poem by an unknown author, entitled ‘Wasting Time’: 

"I have only just a minute, 

Only 60 seconds in it, 

Forced upon me, can’t refuse it, 

Didn’t seek it, Didn’t choose it, 

But it is up to me to use it, 

I must suffer if I lose it, 

Give account if I abuse it, 

Just a tiny little minute, But eternity is in it.”