Pacific Lutheran University’s paper, The Mooring Mast, wrote a wonderful article about the All-Star Reader’s program at Fern Hill Elementary! The article as a whole is below.
Pacific Lutheran University students provide extra help and support for elementary students outside of the classroom. The All-Star Reading Program (ASR) provides an opportunity for elementary students at Fern Hill Elementary School to advance in their reading skills by working with PLU students and other volunteers.
Communities in Schools, an organization that focuses on providing support for the success of students, organizes ASR. They work with volunteers who spend one-on-one time with elementary students who are reading below their grade level.
Communities in Schools of Tacoma coordinator Robin Malich said, “that little extra one-on-one attention just impacts them in so many ways.”
For ASR, elementary school students, mainly second-graders, are paired with a volunteer who they will work with each Wednesday during the elementary school’s academic year.
Malich said elementary students connect very well with PLU students and look forward to someone who is young coming to spend time with them. ASR often works with PLU’s Hispanic studies students because there is a large Latino population at Fern Hill.
“I love having PLU students,” Malich said. “I’d love to get more…because it’s such a good pairing.”
Some of the activities are structured around a curriculum program called the Sound Reading System. The focus of these activities is to help second-graders learn how to listen to and pronounce sounds ans words in order to help with reading fluency and comprehension.
According to the All-Star Reading Program’s website, Sound Reading helps strengthen students’ listening and sound discrimination skills. “Before we teach phonics, we need to help the [student] hear all of the sounds in words,” the Communities in Schools website states.
Students and volunteers may do other activities as well, based on what seems to work best for the growth of the elementary student.
Malich also emphasized that ASR is meant to be helpful and fun, such as choosing fun books and activities that can be entertaining for both the second-graders and the volunteers. She also explained that building a relationship between the elementary school student and the volunteer is a very important part of the program.
PLU students and other community members may volunteer for different reasons, whether they are gaining experience for future work with children and education, earning volunteer hours or just want to contribute to the success of young students.
“It’s just kind of giving back to the community,” Malich said.
For more information about the All-Star Reading Program, contact Robin Malich at rmalich@tacoma.k12.wa.us or call 253-571-3873. ASR takes place every Wednesday from 4-5 p.m. at Fern Hill Elementary School.
Article here.