Read Across South St. Paul returns

Read Across South St. Paul returns
By Tim Spitzack | Editor | January 2024

A popular volunteer-based reading program has returned to South St. Paul schools after being on pause since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is welcome news for the schools and particularly for those students struggling to meet state standards in reading proficiency.

The Read Across South St. Paul program sees volunteers visit classrooms once a month to read to students at the city’s two elementary schools. Deb Griffith, community affairs liaison for the City of South St. Paul, launched the program in 2001 simply to share her love of literature with students. Over the years it has grown to approximately 30 volunteers. Among the group are a veritable Who’s Who of community leaders: Mayor James Francis, City Administrator Ryan Garcia, South St. Paul Schools Superintendent Brian Zambreno, Dakota County Commissioner Joe Atkins, and a host of retired teachers and others willing to share their time.

“I’m so glad this program is back,” said Griffith. “It’s a great way for people to read with kids, interact with kids and have a special relationship with the schools. The books we choose are entertaining, rather than educational. We want to bring a fun element into reading.”

Griffith works with South St. Paul Children’s Librarian Carlos Espitia to pick 50 books each month that relate to a specific theme and she personally distributes them to the elementary schools and ensures that they are returned to the library promptly. December’s theme was Winter Wonderland and featured books that celebrate winter. January’s theme is Wild New Year. The program runs October through April. During summer months, kids may attend reading programs at the library.

While the Read Across South St. Paul program focuses on the joy of reading, it is also a key element in supporting literacy at each school. Literacy is often called the building block of education because it’s the foundation for all other learning. According to the National Research Council and the National Early Literacy Panel, shared book reading is one of the top three ways to foster early literacy skills. The others are phonological awareness and speech-to-print connections.
Read Across South St. Paul is meeting a need in the South St. Paul school district, which, like other districts across the state and nation, is slowly emerging from the negative effects the pandemic had on learning. According to scorecards from the Minnesota Department of Education, the number of students meeting state standards in reading at South St. Paul’s elementary schools is below 50%. At Lincoln Center Elementary, 39.7% are meeting the standard. This is up slightly from last year (37.4%) but below pre-COVID levels (47.9% in 2019.) Data from Kaposia Education Center is 44.7%, which is up from 38.7% last year, and up from 40.9% in 2019.

Terry Bretoi, Kaposia Elementary School principal, is a strong proponent of Read Across South St. Paul.

“Having the community come back to our school has been a joy,” he said. “Parent and community engagement has gone through the roof since the pandemic.”

While that pleases him, he remains concerned about the negative effects that social media and other forms of electronic media have on students’ reading for enjoyment.

“We think kids aren’t reading as much at home,” he said. “It seems to have taken a backseat to things that are more instantaneous.”

To promote reading books, Kaposia hosted Books and Breakfast in November, where parents were invited to join their children at school for breakfast and a time of reading together. Nearly 100 families attended and were reminded about the importance of supporting literacy at home. Due to its success, a similar event will be held in the spring.

Theresa Starkman, principal at Lincoln Center Elementary, is equally appreciative of Read Across South St. Paul volunteers.
“The program is phenomenal,” she said. “One of the reasons I love most about working in this school district is the vast amount of community involvement.” She said her school has various events throughout the year, such as their Spring Fling, that bring in parents and other volunteers to interact with students to support their educational endeavors.

Get involved
Read Across South St. Paul volunteers read to students once a month at 9 a.m. at Lincoln Center and 9:30 a.m. at Kaposia Education Center. While most participate monthly, it’s not required. Griffith said volunteers may read whenever it fits their schedule. To learn more about the program, contact Griffith at deb.griffith@southstpaul.org or 651-554-3230.