News

Volunteers sought to participate in local literacy programs for kids, adults

Friday, February 13, 2009 6:19 AM EST

By Mary E. O’Leary, Register Topics Editor

NEW HAVEN — The Greater New Haven Branch of the NAACP is issuing a “clarion call” for volunteers to boost the ranks of tutors in local literacy programs for schoolchildren and adults.

Representatives from New Haven Reads and the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven joined with Lisa Monroe of the local NAACP Thursday to kick off the campaign, which Monroe will take to church and civic groups to drum up support.

Studies have shown that early reading skills are an indicator of success later in adulthood, while conversely, poor reading correlates with negative consequences, from higher dropout rates to criminal activity, Monroe said.

“We will be getting the message out that it is easy to step into an organization to get training and make a difference in a child’s life,” Monroe said.

The announcement was made on the centennial anniversary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which is also the bicentennial birth date of President Abraham Lincoln.

The campaign is unfolding at the same time Literacy Volunteers of Greater New Haven is expected to move to a new home at 4 Science Park in Newhallville next month, which will also serve as a satellite office for New Haven Reads. Supported by Yale University, the Science Park Development Corp. and the city, it will also feature a job counseling center.

Chris Alexander, the unpaid executive director of New Haven Reads, said her organization tutors some 275 children every week, but there are 140 children waiting for more volunteers.

Lauri Lowell, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, said the Jewish Coalition for Literacy has placed tutors in six public schools in New Haven and is part of a national model.

Alexander and Lowell spoke of the joy of bringing a child up to grade level in their reading skills and the confidence that instills in children.

“Any positive reinforcement a child can get makes an amazing difference,” Alexander said. “Kids are like sponges. If you tell a child they can do something, they do it. They just rise to the bar where it is set for them,” she said.

They stressed that the training for tutors is not difficult and the time commitment is only an hour a week. “You don’t need a graduate degree. You need some heart for children,” Lowell said.

Monroe said their initiative follows the example of President Barack Obama and the first lady, who have visited Washington, D.C., schools to stress the importance of education. “They have become the face of family literacy in our country,” she said.

Chris Griffin, 22, an employee at New Haven Reads, which has distributed an average of 125,000 free books to children and adults since it was founded by Alexander in 2003, will head up the tutoring program at the Science Park satellite.

In a time of declining federal, state and local economic resources, Lowell said there is still one resource the area has in abundance. “That is the human resource of people in our community who care. ... We can make a difference if we all come together,” Lowell said.

New Haven Reads at 45 Bristol St. can be reached at 752-1923; Lowell at 387-2424, ext. 318, and Monroe at 650-2268.

Mary E. O’Leary can be reached at 789-5731 or moleary@nhregister.com.

URL: http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/02/13/news/a3-naacpread.prt