The SouthernUniversity College of Education is hosting their second annual readingchallenge at Crestworth Elementary School, where elementary students werechallenged to read 11,000 books by March 2005.
Each student iskeeping a reading log tallying how many books they can read.
There are 410students at Crestworth Elementary and to reach their goal they must read morethan 30 books each.
“This is oureffort to go out into the community,” said Dr. Roy Jacobs, interim chair forthe Department of Curriculum and Instruction. “This reading program contains 20hours of field experience.”
Over 25Southern University students report to Crestworth to obtain their fieldexperience.
“It is verybeneficial because you are not going into something blind folded. You areseeing what you are going to be a part of before you actually teach,” saidNadia Washington, a junior elementary education major from Baton Rouge.
According toJacobs, since the Southern University education majors have volunteered atCrestworth, LEAP scores have increased and they believe it is due to thevolunteers.
At the kickoffceremony for the reading challenge Monday, Nov. 29, Southern UniversityChancellor Edward Jackson encouraged the students at Crestworth to take readingseriously.
” I want you tomake a promise that if you plan to come to Southern University, you will takereading seriously,” Jackson said.
They repliedanxiously by saying, “Yes, sir. ”
”I will see you in a few years atSouthern,” Jackson said.
Eva Honeywood,a senior education major from St. Joseph, said this program is allowing her toteach children and teach her how to be an effective teacher as well.
“The readingchallenge is very rewarding for me being that I am a growing teacher. It helpedme to understand the importance of reading to children and the value ofchildren reading,” Honeywood said.
According toJacobs, faculty members in the education department were sent to severalworkshops and from the information gathered, they are starting the RF-TENreading center. Unlike the readingchallenge, RF-TEN will be held at SU in the College of Education. Starting next semester students inkindergarten through third grade can report to SU and receive assistance inliteracy, writing and speech.
“We want to bethe mecca of literacy development,” Jacobs said.
Elementaryeducation majors are developing individualized instruction guides and tutorialsfor this project and will assess the students on how they grow and developthroughout this program.
For Christmas,the College of Education is working to collect 1,000 new books and 100dictionaries for pre-kindergarten through fifth grade students. These donationscan be brought to room 319 in Stewart Hall.
