Kevin Spradlin
CUMBERLAND — A new partnership between two local schools and the South Cumberland branch of the Allegany County Library System will likely have a positive impact on one child.
And it has the potential to do so much more. At least, that’s the thinking of young adult librarian Joni Reed and Sydney Sibley, Project Y.E.S. coordinator at Washington Middle School. Youth Experiencing Success serves about 15 Washington Middle students with grade-point averages between 0.7 and 3.5. Each student, Sibley said, requires just a bit of extra motivation to show he can succeed.
Being a part of Project Y.E.S., Sibley said, “means someone believes in you enough and that you could be successful,” Sibley said.
A new reading-aloud program, in which Reed visits the students every other Thursday for about 30 minutes, could provide just the right nudge. Reed said she’d researched reading aloud to older students for some time. A key piece of her research was an article in School Library Journal in April 2005. The article, titled “Reading to Kids Who Are Old Enough to Shave,” written by a high school librarian in Pennsylvania, relayed that “read-alouds have become enormously popular.”
Reed sees that same potential here.
“When I first went over (in October), I read short stories,” Reed said. “But the kids are really interested in Manga.”
Manga is the art of telling a story through pictures. Reed’s two teenage children both know of Manga and with their help she is establishing a Manga section at the South Cumberland Library. An earlier read-aloud by Reed was “The Hunger Games,” a futuristic novel by Suzanne Collins.
Sibley said Reed provides a unique, calming environment for the students — Reed even used the middle school’s little-known outdoor classroom for one reading session — and often provides a light snack to lighten the mood. As for what book is next on the list, “I’m kind of letting them guide me,” Reed said.
“They’re their own experts on what they want to read,” she said. “I started out doing urban legends, such as exploding toilets and alligators in sewers. That kind of ran its course. They’re really into Manga.”
Whether an entire short story or an excerpt from a longer novel, Reed said the goal is to let students know they have free and convenient access to the rest of the book or other writings from an author they like at their school library or at South Cumberland Library.
Reed isn’t yet sure how to measure the success of the new program. She started in October, and so far, at least one student has acknowledged checking out a book to finish where Reed’s read-aloud left off.
“That was a highlight for me,” Reed said. “They keep coming. We’re talking about books and reading and they keep coming. Sydney tells me that when I’m not able to make it, they ask about it. They’re enthusiastic.”
Sibley said because of Reed’s presentation of “The Hunger Games,” “I think they really had a desire to pick up that book.”
Project Y.E.S. is a countywide program in middle and high schools. Sibley said it was designed to combat an increasing high school dropout rate. It appears to be working, thanks to innovative programs such as Reed’s read-alouds.
“I think by keeping students on my list from sixth grade to 12th grade, maybe with some ups and downs in their GPAs, I like to think that by having them on the list, it means that I’ve saved that student,” Sibley said. “Just knowing the students are anxious for her return, knowing they never want to be absent on Thursdays” is one measure of success.
Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.
