Thursday, June 16, 2005

 

Shelton educators sing praises
of ‘powerful’ reading program

 

By JEFF GREEN

 

The Shelton School Board Tuesday heard ringing endorsements for a local reading program that has helped Native American students at Oakland Bay Junior High School.

Since the end of January, 51 Native American students at the school have been using the Read Right program, which is headquartered in Shelton.

“Every single kid in the program is moving forward at a remarkable pace,” said teacher Dan Kass. “The trend is that these kids are moving up,” he said, adding, “It’s a very powerful program.”

For example, two of the students, who are ninth-graders, were reading at the first-grade level in February. By April, they had advanced three to four grades in their reading abilities.

“This program should be somewhere in our system,” Kass told the school board. “It’s a valuable tool. The tribal support has been amazing.”

Gordon Neilson, education director for the Skokomish Indian Tribe, explained the Skokomish and Chehalis tribes applied for and won a grant totaling $1.1 million. The Skokomish Tribe is using money from its share of the grant to fund the reading program at Oakland Bay.

“Our kids are failing classes at which they have to read and write,” Neilson said. Earlier in the discussion Kass said reading is a skill, like riding a bike. “Read Right allows kids not to just ride the roads; they can do wheelies, anything they want,” Neilson said.

“We are looking for additional funding for this program,” he said, adding the tribe is committed to buying a $10,000 “library” at Shelton High School. The current grant runs out on September 30. “The goal is to keep the program going forward,” he added.

“THIS SYSTEM is valuable. It does work very, very well,” Kass said. Oakland Bay Principal Sheryal Balding said Kass will become a Read Right trainer and will be able to train others to teach the reading program.

At the beginning of Tuesday evening’s meeting, Superintendent Joan Zook announced that Bordeaux Elementary School had been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for outstanding student achievement in reading, writing, math and significant growth among ethnic students, in Bordeaux’s case, Native Americans.

Bordeaux was one of 55 schools in the state to receive such an award. The money will be used to further student achievement at the school.

 

Text Box: THREE STUDENTS at Oakland Bay Junior High make traditional drums at a literacy-culture day last month honoring the work by Native American students. From left they are: Derek Grover, Billy Uden and Taylor Wiley. They also participated in the Read Right program at the school.