Branching out

The gift of benches from the Pinellas Park Rotary Club has taken the practice of reading beyond the walls of the classroom to the shady lawns at Cross Bayou Elementary School.

By PAMELA GRINER LEAVY

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 1, 2000

PINELLAS PARK -- Marcia Stone finds it disturbing that some children who are coming to school have never opened a book, don't how to turn a page or to read from left to right.

Stone, principal at Cross Bayou Elementary School, sees children coming to school from homes where there are no magazines, homes where young children don't even see adults and siblings reading the side of a breakfast cereal box, much less a newspaper or novel.

Stone has made it her mission to make certain that every activity at Cross Bayou, from pre-kindergarten to sixth grade, is centered around reading, whether it's social studies, math, science or after-lunch recess. "Dear" is not only a term of endearment at Cross Bayou, it also stands for (DEAR), Drop Everything And Read.

With the support of the Pinellas Park Rotary Club, the DEAR program has branched beyond the classroom walls to the sidewalks and shady lawns surrounding Cross Bayou Elementary, 6886 102nd Ave. N. Club members recently donated 16 sturdy wood and wrought-iron reading benches to the school.

The Rotary Club purchased the ready-to-assemble benches for about $1,000 at a Builders Square closing sale. Maintenance workers at Cross Bayou assembled the benches and bolted them to the sidewalks and ground so they could not be moved.

Supervised by rotating teams of teachers, children go outside after they have finished their lunch, select a book from about 200 offered on a rolling bookmobile cart, and head to a bench to socialize and read.

"We didn't want to have benches just be pretty," said Stone, the principal.

"We wanted them to be used to teach children to read. If we encourage children to enjoy reading, we have taught life-long learning. If reading is pleasurable, they will be motivated to keep reading."

"The reason we donated the benches is because it fits into our philosophy of the Rotary Club doing anything we can to enhance a child's education," said David Milchan, chief of police and past president of the Pinellas Park Rotary Club.

"We believe if a child can read -- not only can read but develop an interest in reading -- that will follow them throughout their life and they will develop an interest in higher education."

People who can't read, Milchan said, often can't fit into society and feel disenfranchised. These are the people, the police chief said, who in many cases end up in trouble with the law.

A group of young students were boisterous but not unruly during a recent lunch-hour reading recess at Cross Bayou. Jessica Quach, 8, chose Daddy is Home by David Blomquist, from the reading cart. Kaylee Mize, 8, brought a book from the popular Two of a Kind series from home.

"I don't usually get a book off the shelves because I find them too easy," said Kaylee, an admitted avid reader. "I read all kinds of mystery books and Two of a Kind books."

Chaz Fernandez, 9, also brought his own reading material from home, a book based on the ever popular Pokemon. Zaccari Alsamman, 7, chose a book about dinosaurs.

Some children come for reading recess on the new benches and use special Braille books. Other groups communicate with friends and teachers in animated sign language. Vision and hearing-impaired elementary school students from Tarpon Springs to Tierra Verde attend Cross Bayou. Five full-time interpreters for the hearing-impaired are on staff and sign language classes are offered to students.

For extra credit, children can read on the benches while they are waiting to catch the bus to go home. Parents can select a book from the cart and use the benches while they are waiting to pick up their kids. Teachers are moving classrooms outdoors, encouraging children to listen to the sounds of nature and write about it in their journals. Children visit with friends on the reading benches and two little heads are often together, reading from the same book.

"Encourage your children to read all the time" is principal Stone's advice to parents.

"If we develop an enjoyment and love for reading, it's probably the most important thing we can give our children."

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