As I monitor the political leanings of the Tribune editorial board, I occasionally read an opinion with which my wife and I wholeheartedly agree.
The Dec. 3 editorial “An investment in literacy” is one such non-partisan opinion that focuses on a problem about which all responsible citizens should be concerned.
We agree with your insistence that: “Teachers can be far more effective reading instructors when they are given more comprehensive instruction.”
And also with your call for parents “to encourage their children to read early and often. Find a book, find a newspaper, find a magazine for the kids. Can’t find them? Take a look behind the PlayStation.”
Fortunately there are ways for your readers who are not teachers, school administrators or even parents to help in this worthy effort.
I call your attention to an organization on the North Shore, Book Worm Angels, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1998 to help children in underachieving public elementary schools develop a love for reading and strengthen their reading skills.
Lending libraries are provided to every participating classroom in the school.
The idea was the brainchild of Kermit Myers, a retired business executive, who realized as a volunteer tutor in math in the Cabrini housing project in Chicago that few if any schoolchildren had books to read.
Few in school and virtually none at home.
As of the end of 2005 the Angels have collected 425,000 books and delivered them to 52 inner-city Chicago schools. The Angels’ mission is to help develop regular reading habits among students in elementary schools where the majority of the children are reading below grade level.
They provide classroom lending libraries for recreational reading, in a simple-to-administer program involving parents, teachers and school administrators.
I encourage the Tribune editorial board and staff to continue coverage of this most important problem in public education in Chicago and around the country.
