By Ellen Cameron
Staff Writer
Video by Peyton Wood
One apple on Monday, two pears on Tuesday and three plums on Wednesday may not seem like a lot, but they mark the beginning of a book that is helping change the nation.
A Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle, is a classic children’s book chosen to be this year’s book for “Read for the Record”, a program orchestrated by Jumpstart, a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving education for preschoolers. “Read for the Record” is an annual event in which high school and college students across the nation read the same book to children.
“This is the first year we’ve done it,” William T. Cozby librarian Betsy Merrill said. “My co-worker Tiffany Anderson heard about it and brought it to discussion, so we decided to do try it. The biggest things we had to do was get word out; it’s not going in Guinness, but it’s still a popular concept.”
This year’s “Read for the Record” day was Thursday, Oct. 8. The public library hosted multiple readings from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 7:30. The library also helped prepare elementary schools to do the same. Children who participated at the library were read to by library volunteers, invited to make their own hungry caterpillars and given a sticker on their way out.
“In general, it’s always fun,” Cozby librarian Amy Pittman-Hassett said. “All the kids participate with their families, so it’s really a community event, and it’s nice to see older brothers and sisters help as well.”
The library hosted readings for approximately 125 children, while the elementary schools had approximately 2,000 participating students.
There was also a range of volunteers for this event. Most daytime volunteers were adults, but the volunteers for the last shift were New Tech High @ Coppell juniors Laura Lisbona and Mikita Patel.
“We both have to have 10 hours of community service,” Lisbona said. “We found out about this opportunity on the Web site and picked it because it’s really fun to work with younger kids.”
For volunteers and participants alike, it was a good experience.
“I would probably do it again,” Patel said. “I have done other volunteer work with children, like the Valley Ranch Carnival and the Rec Center Halloween party, and it’s always fun.”
“Read for the Record” began as a program run by Yale students in 1993. The first year, 15 college students read to 15 preschoolers; this year, that number is a thousand times greater and the program reaches over 100 communities. The basis of the program is the statistics that say students who are not up to par on reading by the third grade may never catch up. Jumpstart itself grows at a rate of approximately 30 percent each year.
The date of next year’s “Read for the Record” has not yet been set, but for updates or more information, click here.
