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Program Pairs Reading With Fun

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By RONNIE BLAIR

rblair@tampatrib.com

Published: November 9, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Sally Plunkett knows what it's like to be an elementary school student struggling with reading.

"I realized, at some point, I'm horrible in English and reading," the 17-year-old Land O' Lakes High senior said. "I was never introduced to reading as a fun thing."

These days, Plunkett has improved on the reading front. Now she wants to make sure other elementary school students have a better reading experience than she did.
Plunkett is part of a program called Teen Trendsetters Reading Mentors that matches 16 Land O' Lakes High students with 16 third-graders at Pine View Elementary who need a boost in their reading skills. They meet most Wednesday afternoons in the elementary school's cafeteria.

"I had problems in elementary school," Plunkett said. "If I had this program, I would have been a lot more motivated."
Third grade is a crucial time for students in Florida public schools. Third-graders who fail the reading portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test risk having to repeat the grade.

The teenagers, who volunteer their after-school time, get something out of the program, too. They earn community service hours that can help them earn scholarships.

Traci Hemingway, Pine View Elementary's reading specialist, said the teenagers may start out with community service hours as their motivation, but the experience comes to mean something more.

This is the second year for the program, and when last year's program drew to a close, plenty of tears were flowing from the teenagers and the third-graders.

"They realize they have touched the lives of these children and made a difference," Hemingway said.

James Bussell, an English and intensive-reading teacher at Land O' Lakes High, sees the same thing.

"When they realize someone is relying on them for help, it comes to mean more to them," said Bussell, who accompanies the teenagers to Pine View Elementary and provides direction for them.

Each high school student is paired with a third-grader for the duration of the program, which lasts 20 sessions and ends shortly before FCAT is administered in the spring.

At each session, the children have a reading assignment from a magazine that the teenagers guide them through. The elementary students must answer questions about what they read. Then the teenagers read a book to the third-graders, who get to keep the book.

Recently, the book was "The Snow Bear" by Miriam Moss.

A grant pays for the books and the other reading materials.

The program came about last year when Land O' Lakes High student Kaela Nassief discovered Teen Trendsetters, which was created in 2002 by Jeb Bush's Governor's Mentoring Initiative and Florida Trend's Next, a magazine for high school students.

Nassief wanted Land O' Lakes High to participate, so she approached Bussell with her proposal.

He began calling elementary schools, but had no luck finding anyone willing to partner with the high school. Then he got Hemingway on the phone.

"When do we start?" she asked.
Hemingway is ecstatic about how last year's program turned out. Fourteen of the 16 third-graders who participated passed FCAT, and she said Teen Trendsetters played a key role in that success.

Many of the teenagers who participated last year returned to the program.

One of them was Joe Servas, 17, a senior who was happy to learn the student he mentored last year passed the test.

"It was good news," Servas said. "I got to meet him again later. Now he's in fourth grade. He's doing much better, I guess."

This year, Servas is paired with Taswayne Thelwell, 9, whose eyes light up when he is asked whether he likes books.

"Yeah, totally," he said.

Not far away, Sally Plunkett was working with Alexis Engram, 8, who read the plot summary of "The Snow Bear" , then answered Plunkett's questions.

Alexis knows reading will pay off because it opens the door to more learning.

"When you learn a lot," she said, "you get to get smarter."

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218.

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