Grant boosting literacy programs in St. Lawrence County

With the help of a $25,000 grant from the Charles R. Wood Foundation, St. Lawrence University, Canton, and SUNY Potsdam are creating an early literacy initiative.

Branching Out With Books will include two existing literacy programs at area elementary schools and will introduce a pilot program at the Akwesasne Library and Cultural Center on the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation. All three programs will pair undergraduate and elementary students in an effort to encourage young readers.

“The collaboration just made sense because we’re working with promoting literacy programming, and SUNY Potsdam has the Sheard Literacy Center,” said Brenda L. Papineau, director of community-based learning partnerships at SLU’s Center for Civic Engagement. “The whole idea of community-based learning is to get (college) students to step out of their comfort zone, so we really push students to challenge themselves and learn about the community they’re living in while they’re here at school.”

With the help of the grant, which was awarded in late May, SLU undergraduates will continue to participate in their college’s weekly Reading Buddies program, a literacy mentorship program for third- and fourth-graders at Hermon-DeKalb Central School. SUNY Potsdam undergraduates involved in the America Reads federal work-study program will continue mentoring at Massena’s Jefferson Elementary School, where they began working last year.

As well as providing books for the elementary students to take home, the St. Lawrence and SUNY Potsdam undergraduates will play vocabulary-based games, read aloud and help the children create their own books through the new initiative. SUNY Potsdam graduate students also will play a role, providing training for the undergraduate students and designing lesson plans.

“It’s important for our youth to have a mentor that they can work with throughout the school year, and having access to a college student is important to their aspirations for being a college student,” Ms. Papineau said about the elementary students. “We have such a large geographical region, and economic hardship has played a role in lowering the quality of life in the area.”

The pilot program at the Akwesasne Library will include expanding an existing preschool program and creating a preteen book club.

Ms. Papineau estimated that slightly more than 50 children at the three locations will participate in the program’s first year.

The one-year Charles R. Wood Foundation grant, which carries the possibility of renewal, will be used to help subsidize the initiative’s purchase of take-home books, literacy-based computer programs and craft materials. It likely will fund the purchase of a vehicle to transport the college students. According to Tina Wilson Bush, director of SUNY Potsdam’s Sheard Literacy Center, the grant and the partnership between the two colleges will help meet a significant need in north country schools.

“There is a lack of service. We get phone calls all the time, and through the Sheard Literacy Center we can’t possibly fulfill all the needs that are there,” Ms. Bush said. “I’m just really thankful that we’re able to work with St. Lawrence and that they approached us. I think when we join together, we can do more.”