Special rooms designed to enhance reading skills opened recently at Sward Elementary and Kolmar schools in Oak Lawn, according to a press release from Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123.
The Ben Carson Reading Room grand opening celebration took place April 23 at Sward Elementary School, while students from Kolmar School watched via a live stream, the release said.
Special guests at the grand opening included Supt. Paul Enderle, James Deiters, the Sward School choir and Candy Carson, it said.
The main purpose of Ben Carson Reading Rooms is to provide funding and support to schools to create environments for children to develop their love for reading, the release said, as each reading room is filled with hundreds of books.
District 123 is among the first to also use digital tablets inside the Ben Carson Reading Rooms, the release said. Digital materials allow all District 123 schools to access the resources, it said.
The Ben Carson Reading Room project began in 2000 and has established more than 131 reading rooms in several states, the release said. The Sward and Kolmar rooms were provided in part by the Carson Scholars foundation and Advocate Christ Medical Center, the release said.
Daily Southtown staff report
