Schools
Volunteers Help Keep Kids Literate All Summer
'Rush Out and Read' enjoys 18 years of summer service to local children.
When the Winchester Cooperative Bank contacted childrens' librarian Yvonne Coleman in 1993 about doing something extra to support children's reading they had no idea how popular the program they were about to launch would become.
Under Coleman's direction a group consisting of volunteers from the ranks of middle school, high school and college students formed the Rush Out and Read (R.O.A.R.) Corps.
For many kids books and reading are put aside for the summer months while they pursue outdoor activities. The Corps mission was to read with children at the venues children frequent in July and August.
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According to the current coordintaor, sixth grade teacher Dennis Kronenberg these months now typically find 35-40 volunteers creating 4,000 contact hours with children in an eight week period.
"It's a unique program that just works for everyone involved," Kronenberg said. "The children love the books and the older kids love working with the children."
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"Parents like the idea of having their children exposed to reading in a way that is different and fun," he added. "I've coordinated the program for sixteen years and it's still going strong."
By committing to a schedule of two weeks, five days a week the volunteers reach out to structured sites such as the Recreation Department's summer camp and to chance encounters at .
Corps members are easily identified by their program T-shirts with R.O.A.R. printed on the front and "Jambo," an African word meaning "hello" on the back.
They can be spotted at , Winchester's school camps, the , , , and the to name a few places on their list.
On Saturdays mornings the volunteers read at the Farmers' Market and the Winchester Cooperative Bank, which remains the program's sponsor.
"Each year we appropriate money to replenish books and pay for other program costs," said Joanne Reese, the bank's vice president.
"Though we started the program as a way of celebrating the bank's 100th anniversary, the Board and the bank's president, Robert Hickey remain committed to the program. It goes over well with the business community and the parents. They report that their children like the novel way reading is presented."
Details can be found on schoolnotes.com under Dennis Kronenberg or the children's room at the library.
