OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Each month, more than 2,100 elementary students in the Omaha area are given books to call their own, to share with their parents, to learn to read.
They attend 10 schools from six districts involved in the Book Trust program, which began in September and is supported by United Way of the Midlands. The schools were chosen based on their students’ families’ incomes and on the schools’ resources.
Melissa Mayo, the director of Classroom Ready Initiatives at the local United Way, told the Omaha World-Herald ((https://bit.ly/2mldcPv ) that it takes about $250,000 to pay for a year of the program, which aims to provide books to families that might be struggling financially.
“We want to make sure we’re leveling the playing field and that every kid has access to books,” she said.
Stacey Stoffel, a fifth-grade teacher at Mockingbird Elementary in south Omaha and the school’s Book Trust manager, said she knew of some students who didn’t have any books to read at home before September.
Falling behind in reading can have serious consequences down the line, she said. Data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a children’s welfare organization, show that students who can’t read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school than their peers are.
About 23,000 books have made it into children’s hands through the program so far, the United Way’s Mayo said. It’s hoped that Book Trust will continue for at least two more years and expand in the future.
The kids’ faces show the program is working, officials said.
“There’s just this buildup of excitement about reading,” Mayo said.
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Information from: Omaha World-Herald, https://www.omaha.com
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