SMART needs site coordinators for six schools
If not enough site coordinators sign up, the reading program won't come to six schools.
SMART needs site coordinators for six schools If not enough site coordinators sign up, the reading program won't come to six schools. Check out this story on statesmanjournal.com: http://stjr.nl/1Jd0SaP
Kaellen Hessel, Statesman Journal Published 6:43 p.m. PT Aug. 22, 2015 | Updated 3:51 p.m. PT Aug. 24, 2015
Anna Alexander reads a story with a student at Salem Heights Elementary School as part of SMART's one-on-one reading program.(Photo: Photo courtesy of SMART)
If people don't volunteer to serve as site coordinators for SMART, the one-on-one reading program won't open at six Marion County schools this year.
SMART — or Start Making a Reader Today — brings adults into schools throughout the state to read to children one-on-one with the hopes that interaction will encourage a love of reading and providing a positive role model.
Coordinators are needed to run the day-to-day operations of the sites, perform administrative tasks, order books and serve as the point person for volunteers and school leaders, said Jenn Columbus, SMART Northwest area manager.
"The fewer volunteers we have, the fewer students we can serve and ultimately if we don't have a site coordinator, we can't open a school," Columbus said.
Not opening sites at East Salem Head Start and Aumsville Elementary, Bush Elementary, Englewood Elementary and Morningside Elementary schools would affect 99 children, Columbus said.
SMART began serving schools in Marion and Polk counties in 2002. This year the program is expanding to East Salem Head Start and Bush Elementary, Morningside Elementary and North Marion Primary schools.
Coordinators don't need to have previous volunteer experience with SMART, she said. The time commitment is about eight hours a week.
The nonprofit is also trying to recruit 181 readers for Marion and Polk county sites and 1,500 total volunteers across the state, Columbus said.
Readers are asked to commit to volunteering one hour a week from mid-October to May, but substitute readers are available to fill in when necessary. Readers don't need to have teaching experience because the reading time is meant to be more about fostering a love of learning, rather than instruction, Columbus said.
Readers are paired up with the same children each week so that they can build relationships with each other.
Schools decide which students participate in SMART, often depending on their reading level and how much they would benefit from having a mentor, Columbus said.
Those relationships were the best part of the program for Mimi Pileggi, incoming principal at Morningside Elementary School.
"It's the friendships that always brought tears to my eyes," said Pileggi, who worked as the principal of Salem Heights Elementary School for the last five years.
The reading time helped students catch up to their peers in their own minds, Pileggi said. Being able to have time to read with someone outside of the classroom meant kids were able to record that time in the reading logs they kept for homework. They knew they were doing what the other students were doing and eventually came to see themselves as readers, she said.
Teachers tell SMART employees that attendance increases on days students know they'll be reading with their SMART buddy, Columbus said.
Students really counted on seeing their reading buddies each week, said Gloria Anderson, who began volunteering at Hoover Elementary School last year. A week after meeting for the first time, one of Anderson's children came up to her and said, "Oh, I just missed you so much," she said.
"It's definitely more than just reading that goes on," said Anderson, who will step into a coordinator role this year.
The five- and six-year-olds Anderson worked with were able to pick which books they wanted to read and whether they wanted to read in English or Spanish. Sometimes they'd read a book in English and a child would ask questions in Spanish.
Once while animatedly reading the tale of a boy having a temper tantrum, Anderson said the little boy she was reading to starting jumping up and down and saying, "I hate tantrums," making it clear how he could relate to the book. Sucked into the story, the pair turned the page to see what happened next.
"They just feel the excitement and the momentum build when you read with excitement," she said.
Anderson said she remembers telling her husband that she started volunteering to help the children, but she just had so much fun.
khessel@statesmanjournal.com, (503) 399-6743 or follow on Twitter @KaellenHessel
To volunteer or learn more about Start Making a Reader Today, go to GetSmartOregon.org or call (503) 391-8423. Site coordinators are needed at six schools in Marion County, but 181 readers are needed at schools throughout Marion and Polk counties. For a list of volunteer needs, go to http://bit.ly/1E8LXiU.
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