Trying To Save A Top Reading Program
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If you’re reading this page, you likely learned at a young age that reading can be enjoyable. This report, however, may not become a favorite bedtime story. It’s about how thousands of Hawaii kids and parents came together to read, laugh, and read some more for 12 years. It changed lives; then in 2011 it all ended. Maybe.
Unless a huge chunk of money appears soon, Jed Gaines and his powerful Read Aloud America (RAA) road tour may die a slow death, just like 40 other deserving nonprofits whose funds were cut off in Hawaii’s latest, greatest budget squeeze.
“They tell me the state’s broke, and there’s no money for programs like ours,” says Gaines, a businessman with a heart for early education, “even if we’re the largest family literacy program in the United States - though only in Hawaii.” He has dreams of expanding, but that’s another story. Right now, RAA has a state contract through 2016 to inspire 48 schools a year. But drastic cuts loom, and he predicts the program and its momentum could fizzle out very soon.
Most of Hawaii’s dynamic, preventive service groups could make an equally compelling case to the bean counters, Gaines notes, because they’re all worthy. Yet the scope, energy and enthusiasm of his reading rallies and pep talks cannot be shrugged off, and they are remarkable for their numbers and success stories.
In low-income homes where reading aloud - and even books themselves - are scarce, here’s what happens after RAA’s Read Aloud Program (RAP) takes hold. Tell this to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) purse-string holders, who announced a 95 percent cut to RAA’s funds in February. Figures below are gleaned from 124 RAP sessions since 1999, attended by a total of 268,409 people.
* 58 percent of parents report reading to their children three times or more per week
* 69 percent report watching less television
* 86 percent of parents report an increase in their children’s voluntary reading time
* 69 percent of students report a more positive attitude toward school
* 70 percent of students say they are more interested in reading
Read Aloud survey numbers are higher still among families who have experienced more than one program - and “program” is hardly the word to describe a full-on RAP session. Let’s start with the other “p” words: Pizza, Pepsi, Prizes.
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First, a well-trained, high-energy team of adults arrives at the cafeteria of the selected Title I school to warm up the crowd, which ranges from 300 to 600, depending on enrollment. There’s music, trivia questions and Frisbee tossing. Then the keiki follow adult readers out to classrooms while the parents remain and listen to tips on helping their kids, as well as stories read especially to them.
“We don’t teach reading,” Gaines points out. “We show families one heck of a good time; they learn and they retain information. Most of all, we bring families together.”
After an exciting adventure into multiple worlds of words, everyone regroups for pizza and prizes, free books and book swaps. Over the semester, the RAP experience delivers six evenings of fun to each of its school partners. Presented in a non-threatening manner, it’s a simple formula with a vital message.
Says Jim Trelease, national best-selling author of The Read-Aloud Handbook: “If America truly expects to improve student achievement, then it must face the stark reality of the calendar and clock - each year a child is in school for 900 hours and outside of school for 7,800 hours. By improving the curriculum of the home, the chances of improving the child’s school performance are six times greater than if we change only the classroom ... RAP is a model the rest of America would do well to imitate.”
Now that Gaines, 65, must look to new sources of funds - at least $800,000 a year for a staff of 12 covering four islands - he’s more into beg-aloud mode than read-aloud, and he carries a pitch book full of letters and life-changing stories.
“You and your staff lit a much-needed fire under my staff,” declares a Waimanalo principal.
“The children’s enthusiasm was absolutely immeasurable,” writes a Kealakehi librarian, who saw her fifth-graders form their own mini RAP group to continue the fun (and, ahem, learning).
“We’ve never seen numbers like we did with this program,” states a Wailuku principal, “and twice and sometimes three times more books were checked out per month, compared to last year.”
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At Fern Elementary in 2008, the principal describes weary parents being dragged to the night session by insistent keiki, and then being transformed. “One mother started thinking about community college and possibly getting a degree. Another started a book club in her community.”
Gaines and his team also insert lessons about responsibility, family values and TV-avoidance. Naturally, it’s not a heavy-handed approach. It’s called TTTT (Turn off the Television Through Thursday!). “Each year, what truly amazes me,” declares a Nanaikapono principal, “is how many more families are turning their televisions off during the week. What your program accomplishes will not only change test scores but will change America!”
And holding a Kindle, Gaines says, can’t hold a candle to the printed page. “The power of the story,” he asserts, “comes when you read to the child. It bonds you together and gets the child to think, explore and discover who they are. It gets them more confident with words and reading.
“I feel deep in my heart,” he says, shifting gears, “that America is not ready for this. We’re years ahead of our time.” Yet he knows personally how vital reading is, and how the lack of skills can undermine learning. Always a poor student, he finally was diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult, in all three modalities (kinesthetic, auditory and visual). His Navy hitch on an aircraft carrier was the turn-around point. There, in the bowels of the ship, he taught himself to read, spending hours and weeks on the ocean with all the books from the floating library.
RAA requests that a family give just two hours each night for six RAP sessions. When else can a mother realize how the magic affects her child?
“What a treat to be able to watch the expressions on their faces,” writes a Maui mom. “I normally read to them and barely get to see how much they enjoy the wonders of reading.”
The story-readers themselves can relate. “When they come to the classroom, their eyes light up with the love of words,” says volunteer Patti Takayama, noting that investing in Read Aloud now means “there’s less payout in the end.”
Or as ex-sailor Gaines puts it: “Turn off the friggin’ TV, get it out of the bedroom and start reading together. Just think about what might happen!”
Then pull out your pen and write a check to readaloudamerica.org.
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