51风流

Ice cream sandwiches, fluffy dogs and the tunes of聽聽drew a crowd under the reading tree at the park, and the kids wasted no time dripping chocolate down their faces or rushing to meet聽, a big, blue children鈥檚 book character.

Special guests, including Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Deborah Gist, read picture books to the crowd, and Reading Partners Executive Director Justin Harlan announced the milestones of the year.

Harlan said the program had about 500 additional volunteers in the most recent school year, bringing the total to more than 2,000 who served more than 1,700 children in TPS with more than 55,000 tutoring sessions. The sessions average about one hour.

The program鈥檚 growth since it began six years ago is 鈥渞emarkable,鈥� Harlan said.

鈥淲e just thought it was kind of a natural time to get the city together to celebrate,鈥� he said.

Only 17 percent of TPS third-graders are reading proficiently, Harlan said, and research shows that kids who read proficiently by the time they finish third grade are four times more likely to graduate high school.

Harlan called a high school degree 鈥渃ritical鈥� for life and career success, and said it鈥檚 important to emphasize literacy and reading in young students, 鈥渙r we鈥檙e going to see a completely different city.鈥�

Gist said she and TPS teachers greatly appreciate the time Reading Partners volunteers dedicate to students.

We know that the more contact our children can have with adults who care about them and know them and read with them, the farther we will go as a community,

she said.

Will Bruner, who just finished his fourth year as a volunteer and is looking forward to his fifth, said he learned about the opportunity while reading a Tulsa World story.

It took him back to the time his older sister spent teaching him to read, he said.

鈥淏ecause of my sister, I鈥檝e always enjoyed reading,鈥� Bruner said. 鈥淚 thought, 鈥榃hy not pass that along?鈥欌��

Bruner said he chose to volunteer at a school close to his office, and he hasn鈥檛 looked back since.

He enjoys building relationships with the kids and seeing how each has a different personality and learning style, he said, and knowing they鈥檝e taught him more than he has probably taught them.

To those interested in volunteering but apprehensive about pairing up with an apathetic child, Bruner says there鈥檚 no reason to fear.

鈥淜ids are kids,鈥� he said, adding that he often becomes the character of a book he鈥檚 reading in an effort to entertain the kids.

If you make it fun, you鈥檙e going to capture their attention.

Plus, 鈥渋t鈥檚 easy,鈥� Bruner said. Volunteers receive straight-forward lesson plans before each tutoring session and often help their students sound out words or understand compound words, he said.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e thinking about it, do it,鈥� Bruner said. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l love it.鈥�