Summertime Reading for City Youth

Hundreds of young Berkeley children sat in circles in the grass at James Kenney Park on Thursday, not to play Duck Duck Goose, but to read together as part of a reading promotion program this summer.

Project BUILD, Bears United In Literacy Development, launched its fifth annual summer program on June 26 with hundreds of children from low-income backgrounds, along with program mentors, city officials and Cal Corps staff. The program is a collaboration between the city of Berkeley and UC Berkeley.

The program hires students on campus to be tutors and mentors for underprivileged Berkeley children, according to program organizers. Ten different sites throughout the city, including recreation centers and schools, house the program.

The project aims to promote and improve literacy among lower income students, ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade, who may otherwise lose reading skills during the summer, according to Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates.

According to a 2007 study done by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, more than half of the achievement gap between lower and higher-income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities, making low-income students less likely to graduate from high school or enter college. At the launch of the program, every child went home with a new book.

Though the program originally worked toward narrowing the gap in reading capabilities between children of different socioeconomic backgrounds, it has since been expanded to address issues with obesity among children through education about proper physical and nutritional health. Last year, this included giving out pedometers, said UC Berkeley senior Jessica Vazquez, who has been working with the program for the past three years.

"This year, they're doing a campaign for a soda-free summer," Vazquez said. "I'm really excited to participate myself, being a college student."

This year's launch, a festival of sorts, brought together all 10 sites where the program is held, hosting games, clowns on stilts, food and an appearance by Clifford the Big Red Dog.

At one point, a speaker asked the children to raise their hands if they wanted to go to college, adding that all of them should.

Cal Corps Director Megan Voorhees said she sees the program as a way for kids to be exposed to the idea of attending college.

"To have a relationship with someone who's in college, (when) there's no one in your family who has gone to college, (they) can tell you what it's like and tell you that it's fun," Voorhees said.

Cal Corps hired UC Berkeley students to work in the program this summer, Vazquez said.

Since its inception, the program has aided nearly 1,000 low-income children, program organizers said.

Yet participants said the children are not the only ones who feel they are gaining something from the program.

"The skills you learn here you can use anywhere," said UC Berkeley senior Lydia Centeno. "People say this generation is lost but (the kids) are here. They just need our help."

Voorhees said other members of the campus should be more aware of literacy issues among children in the city.

"If we can't help to get kids to get through school, able to read, then we're not doing what we need to as a university," she said.

Tags: PROGRAM BUILD, CAL CORPS