News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Reading is everything.
Strong readers tend to succeed, even if they have obstacles in their path. Those who can't read well tend to fall by the wayside, struggling in school and in life.
"The only way you're going to excel is if you're a good reader," says Sisters Schools Superintendent Jim Golden.
In fact, lack of reading skills can be a strong predictor of stark failure - what Golden calls "the prison pipeline."
"They're full of people who don't know how to read," he notes.
The SMART program (Start Making a Reader Today) has been in action for the past 20 years, combating literacy deficiencies across the state. On Monday, local legislators and SMART directors and promoters visited Sisters Elementary School as part of a year-long celebration of the program's 20 years of success in "making readers."
Sisters Elementary School was an early adopter of SMART.
"Sisters Elementary School is one of the first eight schools that launched the program or helped to launch it 20 years ago," said Chris Otis, SMART's executive director.
The program is simple: Adults from all walks of life volunteer to read to and with young students who are working on developing their reading skills. In addition to school time spent reading, the program provides books for the students to take home so that they develop a "culture of reading," surrounded by the world books open up to them.
The relationship between students and adult reading partners transcends merely traveling through the words on a page. With consistent, one-on-one pairing, a mentorship relationship develops, which Otis said is "probably the most valuable part of the program."
Volunteer readers and local legislators joined the celebration and spent 15 minutes reading to Sisters kids. Otis thanked those who dedicate their time and energy.
"This work has gone forward because thousands of people like you have said, 'This matters to me,'" she said.
While the mood was celebratory, SMART is not resting on its laurels. Times change and the program has adapted to meet the needs of its partner schools, providing afterschool programs and a "K-SMART program that works with all the kids in a kindergarten class to boost them into what Golden calls "the beautiful world books bring you."
Donations to SMART ensure that the organization can recruit, train and manage a statewide network of volunteers and provide books for children to take home. For more information and to submit a volunteer application, visit http://www.GetSMARTOregon.org.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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