Rotary Recognizes Readers
Downey Fire Department Requires Evacuation of Rio Hondo Events Center During Rotary Club Meeting!! So said President Paul Velasco, and then he announced – “April Fool.” Wow, that was a close one.
The real excitement at our Club Meeting was the awarding of prizes for super achievement in reading by third and fifth graders. Dr. John Garcia, Superintendent of the Downey Unified School District, introduced Leslie Jones, Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services, and she did the honors for the program.
The citations were personalized for each of the students, who represented all thirteen K-5 schools in the Downey Unified School District. Some of the rave quotes included, “jumped six grade levels this year,” “has proved to himself that there are no more struggles in reading” and “not only does character count for this student, but she started this year below grade level, and has risen four levels since then.’
“She loves to read now, and reads aloud to her stuffed animals, her fish and her little sisters.” Lucky sisters. Lucky fish.
 |
 |
As their classroom teachers’ citations said, these boys and girls now read for fun as well as for comprehension. Some students come from bi-lingual homes, where English is their second language, and now they can help the whole family with their English reading.
This reporter asked the Principal of the Rio San Gabriel School during lunch, what is meant by a “grade level.” The answer was that there are many “levels” or steps, one might say, within a school year “grade.” There may be as many as eight each, in kindergarten and the lower grades, as skills are being introduced and quickly picked up.
As reading for comprehension increases in complexity, the “grade levels” take longer to complete. Students go from a “readiness” stage to primers, and develop fluency as they progress. To be reading material used in “school year six,” they are expected to be able to read and comprehend at level 50.
These special achievers have been singled out by their teachers because they all struggled with comprehension at the beginning of this year, and now they are well-rounded students who read for fun and to learn. These boys and girls have learned the life lesson that with hard work, they can do anything they want.
President Paul thanked the teachers, for how well these students had travelled so fast and so far this year. Paul said that in grade school he had problems reading and was beginning not to like going to school. But he had a teacher who helped him with his reading skills, and tutored him after school. Paul wanted the children present to know that, thanks to his teachers, he went on to college, where he majored in English Literature, and to graduate school where he learned the profession of the law, and became a lawyer.
For our weekly Club presentation of a book for the Downey Library, we were glad to be able to show the children one of the books that we are responsible for putting into their hands. Every one of the children present signed the bookplate in the front of the book, and so did Superintendant Dr. John.
As Dr. John said in his introductory remarks, reading lays a foundation that makes it possible for us to go forward for the rest of our lives. Reading skills start to develop at an early age, and even children with initial difficulties can overcome them. Children are resilient, and as we saw, they can challenge themselves and grow. Who says there aren’t thrills in everyday living?