Our View: Helping kids learn to read
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Ignoring W.C. Fields’ famous advice never to share a scene with a dog or a child, city-parish Mayor-President Kip Holden recently spoke at a news conference that included not only Raising Cane, the canine mascot of the local fast-food franchise, but an audience of children and a Muppet — Elmo of “Sesame Street” fame.
There were laughs all around as Elmo complimented the fashion-conscious mayor on his snappy tie, but the event involved a larger and more serious purpose: the promotion of literacy in a community where too many residents are unable to read.
Holden was with Louisiana Public Broadcasting President Beth Courtney to announce the launch of LPB’s Raising Readers Initiative, a multiyear project that will link public television programming with outreach activities to help children between 2 years old and 8 years old develop the skills they need to be successful readers.
The effort is being funded with $120,000 in grant funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; $10,000 from ExxonMobil, $22,500 from Raising Cane’s and $25,000 from Entergy.
LPB is one of 20 PBS stations and networks taking part in the Raising Readers project. The project will provide special learning materials and support for pre-schoolers in the Alsen and Progress Head Start programs. As part of the effort, LPB also plans to expand its Super Why! Reading Camps around the state next summer.
In a related project inspired by public TV’s “Martha Speaks” children’s series, LPB is working with the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board to launch Martha’s Reading Buddies, which will train fourth- and fifth-graders at Progress Elementary and the J.K. Haynes Charter School to read and work with kindergarten and pre-K students one-on-one as reading mentors. Raising Cane’s has agreed to help underwrite the project.
Meanwhile, The ExxonMobil Science and Math Project, another arm of the initiative, will use ExxonMobil employees as volunteers at the Progress and Alsen Head Start centers to promote math and science skills. The company hopes to expand the project to more schools next year.
Entergy is teaming with LPB to help five child-care centers in New Orleans use the public TV show “Between the Lions” to boost pre-school literacy skills.
With additional support from the city-parish government, Big Buddy and the Louisiana Department of Education, LPB has committed to Raising Readers as a three-year program.
As part of its outreach to parents, LPB will use Twitter Internet messaging technology to text parenting hints and literacy activities to the cellular phones of any parents who want to receive the service. Parents can sign up for the service by visiting the Web site http://www.twitter.com/lpbread.
Expanding literacy in Louisiana is a huge challenge that demands creativity and collaboration among the state’s leading institutions. The Raising Readers Initiative seems a promising step in that direction, and if it proves successful, we hope the program can be enlarged to reach more of the state’s potential readers.
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