Thomas Patterson Emerald
Sara Hoskinson, who has volunteered since October, reads to Aidan Ziegler-Hansen as part of the Start Making A Reader Today program.
SMART
continued from page t
smile on your face. It really makes
you happy.”
She also said reading to the
children has helped her narrow
down her career focus to teaching
third grade.
SMART School Coordinator Lisa
Elliott said it’s crucial that children
are able to read well by third grade
— otherwise, they are likely to fall
behind as they get older.
“From kindergarten to third
grade, kids are learning to read,”
she said. “After that, they’re read
ing to learn.”
The SMART program began 10
years ago when former Oregon Gov.
Neil Goldschmidt discovered sta
tistics that showed children who
read are more likely to graduate,
and are ultimately more literate as
adults, Elliott said. Goldschmidt
formed the Oregon Children’s
Foundation with a mission “to en
hance the reading skills, attitudes
and life prospects of children who
need assistance.”
The program started with only a
few schools in Portland, but today
more than 10,000 kids are involved
in Oregon and 26 schools participate
in Lane County alone, Elliott said.
Teachers select the children who
will be part of the SMART program,
most of whom have low reading
ability and have little access to
books at home, she said.
She added that SMART volun
teers don’t teach children how to
read. They volunteer their time to
support the children and make
reading a positive experience.
“A lot of kids don’t have any ap
preciation for. reading,” Elliott
said. “We’re not here to tutor them
— we’re here to communicate a
joy for reading.”
On campus, sororities and fra
ternities are introducing another
literacy program — for an even
younger group of children. Last
summer, EMU Child Care Coordi
nator Dennis Reynolds received a
grant from the Starbucks Founda
tion, which has provided books for
seven University child care class
rooms. The Starbucks Readers pro
gram is a joint program with the
Office of Greek Life. Starbucks
Reader program Coordinator Kain
oa Sandberg said she plans to have
volunteers reading in the class
rooms by next Monday.
The Starbucks Readers Program
began a pilot program last fall, but
the program will really get under
way this term, Reynolds said. He
said he hopes the program will be
a “value both to children and to
the student (volunteers) who par
ticipate who will learn skills to in
teract with kids.”
Sandberg, the coordinator for the
Starbucks Reader Program, said she
already has the volunteers she
needs, but she expects the program
will grow in the future.
The senior planning, public pol
icy and management major said
volunteers will begin reading to
the children in classrooms — rang
ing from toddlers to pre-kinder
garten — next week. On Saturday,
Feb. 23, the 18th Avenue Star
bucks will also host a reading
event open to all children — in the
daycare or not — and their par
ents. They are invited to come
have hot chocolate and participate
in a reading session with several of
the program’s volunteers.
Elliott said kids in the SMART
program not only become more
comfortable with reading, but they
also have fun.
“There is a kind of rumbly sound
of kids and readers altogether in the
same room,” she said. “It’s the most
beautiful sound.”
E-mail reporter Diane Huber
at dianehuber@dailyemerald.com.
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