5 March 2013
CREATIVITY: Book Club members are opening up a world of imagination at Alcott Elementary School.
By Kira Roybal, Staff Writer
Reading is a favorite pastime for many people. It takes them to destinations outside of their boundaries of time and space, introducing them to unforgettable heroes and villains; it gives people a chance to expand their knowledge and point of view. What better way to express these new points of view than with other passionate readers?
Book Club president Jasmine Flores (12) explained that this is how she got the idea to start her new club dedicated to reading. After finishing work in her classes last school year, she noticed that her conversations with her friends repeatedly glided toward the subject of books. By the end of class, many of her classmates would participate in these discussions. “People just start joining the conversation,” Flores said.
Book Club does more than just read and discuss modern books and classic novels; its members also volunteer to read to the first, second and third graders at Alcott Elementary School. The volunteers meet near the 100 building at Poly every Friday around 3:00 p.m. and head to Alcott from there; they usually read and interact with the children until 5:45 p.m.
“It’s always really fun to go over there. The kids remember you, so they’ll run up and give you a hug. They’ll be excited and ask you to come back next week,” Christine Aceves (12), the Book Club vice president, said.
Every volunteer member is paired with seven or eight Alcott students. The Book Club bears usually read aloud or ask the children in their group to take turns reading a few sentences. This may seem like a low-key activity, but some of the children argue over which book to read first; the volunteers must be mediators as well as readers for the excited Alcott students.
“The best part is being able to interact with the little kids. They really enjoy us being there and they love participating,” Kennedy Flores (11), a Book Club volunteer member, said.
Reading is only half of the beauty of expression; the other half is writing. The Book Club members also created booklets for the Alcott students, in which the children were able to write their own stories. Jasmine Flores explained that this freedom of expression is being emphasized less and less in schools. She discovered from the director of after-school activities at Alcott that teachers must now bring more math and science in the classroom and cut back reading-related subjects.
It is the Book Club’s mission to get the Alcott students excited about reading. Aceves explained that many young children avoid delving into the world of books because critical reading and developing a point of view are not explicitly emphasized anymore in schools. It is also difficult for them to learn from example because most of their role models—teenagers—do not read for fun and would rather spend their time on Facebook or Twitter.
“Reading creates ingenuity. Our society is trying to base our foundation more on math and science, but the reason we have gotten to the point we are at now is [because] we have creative people in our society,” Aceves said.
The book club members are all in favor of a well-rounded education to create a well-rounded individual. Math and science are for developing logical thinking skills, and reading and writing are for developing self-expression and critical thinking skills. “If [the schools] cut back on creativity, [the students] won’t have a solid foundation for life skills,” Jasmine Flores said.