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Native Vision |
I think that the vision of the Seminole people today has not shifted much from the vision of our ancestors and that is that we are all one and though we no longer live in traditional camps is the responsibility of the Tribe as a whole to embrace our people, each and every one.
“It is our goal to have 100% of our students become excellent readers starting from kindergarten.”
If a child is struggling then whether you are biologically connected to that specific child or not you come to his aide just our ancestors would have in the past. As an educator, I have heard the cliché “readers are leaders” my entire life never putting much thought into the underlying meaning. I have always assumed that being on grade level meant you were an excellent reader until the read Right program was introduced to me.
Literacy is not my background so I always trusted that the
traditional method of teaching a child to read was the only
way. I didn’t realize how big of an issue reading problems were
until I started working for my tribe’s Education Department and
started dealing with students that struggled with the State’s
standardized test and with the simple task of completing daily
reading assignments. I quickly came to the realization that we had an epidemic on our hands and the reading problems were much deeper than I ever imagined. We had high school students who could not read the simplest text available with excellence, if at all, but were being marked on grade level. I always found myself asking the same questions, “how does this happen, where were the teachers, where were the parents?”
When I first learned about Read Right I was skeptical, like most people who are invested in some way in traditional reading methods. “Is this is yet another reading program just like all others” I asked myself. However, my interest was peeked and led me to two of Read Right’s annual conferences where I spent a great deal of time listening to testimony from those that have made the shift from non-readers to excellent readers because of this program. With all of our students going into the public school system I wasn’t quite sure how to bring Read Right to the Seminole students. During my second conference I was able to learn more about the phone tutoring component that is offered by Read Right and watched video footage of how the process is carried out. Finally my key to the gate had been provided.
I immediately returned home to my reservation and met with 4 parents that I knew would be proactive in helping their children to become better readers. I did not advertise the program to the community at first because I needed to witness for myself that this program was what it claimed to be and that it could provide our students with the skills needed to become excellent readers.
A few months went by and I invited a Read Right consultant to our Annual Youth Conference to help me introduce the program to our parents. We showed them video footage of the Seminole students already participating in the program. I knew that the only way to really get them on board was to allow them to see one of their own using the program and becoming excellent readers. The interest in the program soared and I have had 6 students graduate the program since May 2006 using Read Right’s phone tutoring and have approximately 12 more still working towards becoming excellent readers.
In August 2007 the Brighton Reservation will be opening a Charter school. One of the first items placed in the school’s budget was funding for the Read Right program. It is our goal to have 100% of our students become excellent readers starting from kindergarten. I have witnessed students’ blossom right before my eyes because of the Read Right program leaving behind self-esteem and confidence issues both inside and outside the classroom. We, as parents, a community and a tribe are invested in the Read Right program and believe it is the answer to producing a community flooded with excellent readers.
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Copyright 1995-2008 READ RIGHT Systems, Inc. |
