Summer reading sessions create unique environment for learning and fun
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
Reeceville teacher Terry Valentine reads to students at the BOYS and G3 summer reading program. Valentine created a curriculum that incorporated reading, biology, and art.
COATESVILLE – Learning is not just an activity but a process. Teaching and caring for young people is not just the responsibility of the professionals appointed to do it but the responsibility of the community.
These seem to be the prevailing messages of the mentoring organizations Backing Our Young Sons (BOYS) and Giving Girls Guidance (G3) as displayed at their summer reading program, which takes place Monday-Thursday, 10am-noon throughout the summer at the Child Guidance Resource Center on Chester Ave.
“We believe a village should help raise a child,” said Program Coordinator and Mentor Francis Washington. “We always say, ‘They need to do this, they need to do that,’ and as we get older we realize we are the ‘they’.”
Though the mentors handle most duties in teaching the kindergarten through fifth graders, one day a week, Reeceville Elementary teachers help out, reading, teaching, and playing games with the students.
“It’s a safe place for them to come. It shows the students we do care,” said teacher Rachel Malikowski.
The program is an evolution from last summer’s, which was held at Reeceville. The mentors said that they preferred their new location in town, which allows easier access for students and more convenience for parents.
Students read and learn in the morning, when they are also served breakfast and lunch. Many of them come back for mentoring in the afternoon, which focuses more on personal issues and character building.
Teacher Dawn Cloud discusses the book Matilda with students. Teachers consider feedback from students when deciding what books to read.
Reeceville Principal Anthony Buckwash said that he comes up with a loose curriculum for the reading lessons, and teachers pick out books and specific lesson plans. The smaller groups and more laid back nature gives teachers more freedom than they would have in a traditional classroom.
“It’s more relaxed. While there’s structure, there isn’t the bell,” said Malikowski. “We have time to talk to the kids, and we like to have fun.”
Teacher Terry Valentine, for example, organized a lesson plan that consisted of reading Froggy Learns to Swim, learning about the growth of real frogs, and then crafting frogs out of construction paper, allowing her to push inter-curricular lessons that the education community looks so highly upon.
Lessons are adjusted for the various ages. Teacher Dawn Cloud read Matilda with her students and discussed the process of growing up and the value of education with them.
“The more you read, the more you learn. The more you learn, the more you’re able to do,” she told her students.
Cloaked behind the fun, the students are afforded a unique educational opportunity and a chance to retain what they learned during the school year through the summer.
(Left to right) BOYS Program Coordinator Francis Washington stands with mentor John Robinson, G3 Program Coordinator Kendra Wilson, and mentors Cassandra Burgess, James Hills, and Harvel Brown. “We work equally together to make it all happen,” said Burgess.
“If we don’t do anything but keep them at the level they left school at, we’ve done our job,” said Mentor John Robinson, Jr.
But considering many of the students play word games a few years ahead of their grade level, the program may be doing more than just keeping the students refreshed.
“The way things are moving so fast today, they have to keep up,” said Robinson.
While the students have fun during these sessions, their mentors’ enthusiasm and teachings are not lost on them. They develop a love for reading and learning.
“We get to read and talk about what we read,” student Basir Styer said over a game of backgammon with one of his teachers. “I like reading because it’s just like a movie; when I read, I picture what’s happening in the book.”
Styer likes attending the program because a lot of his friends are there, and he likes being able to keep the information he learned in school over the summer months.
“I appreciate what they’re doing,” he said.
Between connecting over games of Connect Four and students and teachers gushing about their favorite books together, Styer is clearly not the only one who feels this sentiment. Building relationships between children and the adults who guide them has allowed BOYS and G3 to turn learning into a community event.
