Reading Buddies building relationships with pupils

LAKEWOOD - On Mondays, firstgraders at the Ella G. Clarke Elementary School surround a group of women who come to read to them. The children sit with their legs folded as the women with enthusiastic voices take them on adventures, feed their imagination and foster a love of reading within them.

The children's literacy program known as the Oceans of Learning/Reading Buddies is sponsored by the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), an entity of the Ocean County Board of Social Services. It purpose is to create meaningful volunteer opportunities for individuals 55 and older and to help meet identified service needs in the community.

The directors of RSVP have partnered with the women of Brandeis University National Women's Committee-Harmony Chapter to bring this service to Lakewood's elementary students. The volunteers' goal is to enhance literacy, develop relationships with the children and to encourage them to interact and perhaps participate in a discussion. Gail White, supervisor of humanities for Lakewood public schools, said she was approached with the idea by Ida Jimenez, program director of RSVP. White said she was open to the initiative and embraced

it even more when she

learned that most of the

volunteers who would be

visiting the schools are

former educators.

White said the Reading

Buddies program

has helped the children

tremendously.

"We have a very diverse community. The children coming in are second language learners. They need to hear the books read aloud to help them build their background and knowledge," she said.

In addition, White said, sometimes the children do not have the opportunity to explore a zoo, a park or other places .

"These books take them on an adventure" where they are able to go to those places, she said.

In addition to breaking down language barriers, helping some children assimilate into American culture and providing a literary escape for the youngsters, White said the fact that some of the reading volunteers are former teachers is the icing on the cake.

She said the retired educators have a warm, nurturing aura about them that transforms them into maternal figures such as a grandmother. White said this setting helps the children to become comfortable, allows them to be more open and eventually helps them "to build a strong foundation for reading."

According to White, there is no cost to the Lakewood school district for the Reading Buddies. She said the program comes with financial backing from an RSVP grant and RSVP of Ocean County provides the books that are read in class.

Children will also be provided with their own books through the program.

White said that on behalf of the firstgraders and teachers at the Ella G. Clarke Elementary School, "We are very grateful" for the Reading Buddies.

Micki Benjamin, of Jackson, one of the volunteer readers and coordinator of the Reading Buddies program for the Brandeis Harmony Chapter, said that since the volunteers have started reading to the children, "we have formed a relationship with them. They have expressed their appreciation in so many ways."

Benjamin described her encounters with the children and provided this anecdote.

"After reading to the children I usually pose a question and ask them how they would have ended it. On one occasion when I asked a little boy how he would have concluded the story, he eagerly raised his hand and said, 'with a period,' " she said.

On Dec. 17 the Reading Buddies held a holiday book give-away at the school.According to Benjamin, "the children presented holiday cards to all of their readers. On one of them a little boy wrote 'I love Mondays.' "

Ruth Pashkin, a reader and co-chair of the Brandeis Harmony Chapter's Community Service Committee, along with cochair Hope Lewis, experienced what she calls very rewarding and gratifying moments with the children.

"The children wrote us thank you letters. They have become very open and they look forward to seeing us," Pashkin said, adding that, "their teachers are making this a lasting learning experience for them by having them incorporate what they have learned into good habits."

The Reading Buddies will be back to read to about 120 first grade pupils at the Ella G. Clarke Elementary School on Jan. 7. A long-term goal of this initiative is to bring the program to all of Ocean County.