Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Prior to Christmas vacation, seventh-graders at Presque Isle Middle School were bussed over to Pine Street Elementary School to meet with their reading buddies for a seasonal get-together.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
PRESQUE ISLE MIDDLE SCHOOL seventh-graders, Scott Delong, left, and Khyver Lowe, right, read a book with Pine Street Elementary School first-grader Chandler Plummer at a recent seasonal get-together at Pine Street. The Reading Buddies program was the creation of Marianne Dyer, an English teacher at PIMS. Dyer said the goal of the program is to place value on reading, and to let kids know that reading is cool.
“Last year, only one seventh-grade house participated in the Reading Buddies program,” said PIMS English teacher Marianne Dyer, “whereas this year the entire seventh-grade class participated. It’s evolving.
“When I wrote the grant, I called it the Reading Buddies program,” she said, “because I thought the name was going to fit young kids and older kids alike. It was my way to get kids more hyped up and focused on reading for life. Our goal is to place value on reading, and to let the kids know that reading is cool; it’s not a boring activity.”
Dyer said at the end of the last schoolyear, the Reading Buddies came together for a picnic at Mantle Lake Park.
“I asked the first-grade teachers what they thought about the program and they said it had a tremendous impact and they wished we could do it again,” she said. “Since we didn’t have the grant money for this year, we decided we’d try to do it again internally. Bus transportation to PIMS and Pine Street was approved, and the principals bought into it because they saw the benefits of the program.”
The current Reading Buddies program kicked off in October.
“We’re looking to do it once a month,” said Dyer. “However, with a week off in November and a week off in December, we opted to do it the one time (Dec. 13) and have a little celebration. Other than our seasonal get-together and our end-of-the-year picnic, the first-graders come to the middle school because we have the large auditorium which makes for an awesome reading area.”
At the Dec. 13 event, seventh-graders gave handmade Christmas cards to their buddies and attached a small treat to it.
“We also had cookies and juice, and the buddies read together,” said Dyer. “I think having partnerships with younger students helps them to be in a role of responsibility where they are the ones role modeling good behavior. It’s a chance to share in a social experience.”
The buddies thoroughly enjoyed their time together.
“We’re reading with our buddies to show them that it’s important to read, and maybe help them to read a little bit,” said Kaitlyn Dye, a PIMS seventh-grader. “I have one younger sister at home and I got to help her learn how to read, so I get to do that again.
“It’s fun getting to know the little kids and helping them be inspired to read,” she said. “This get-together was fun because we got to socialize; it wasn’t just reading.”
Dye’s reading buddy, Valerie Burby, said it was fun reading “My Reading Storybook” with Kaitlyn.
“It’s fun working with an older kid,” said Burby. “Kaitlyn is fun because we get to go where her classroom is. It’s a big school, but it was fun. Learning how to read is fun because you can read to your sisters at bedtime and stuff.”
Seventh-grader Corey Willette and his buddy, Harrison Hagan, had a good time at the seasonal get-together.
“It’s been great,” said Willette. “I think it’s a really good experience for Harrison, too. I remember when I was little and used to get reading buddies, it was a good experience for me to learn how to read. I hope I’m going to make a great experience for him to learn how to read and get into books.”
“My parents read to me at home, and I’m learning how to read,” said Hagan. “Corey’s nice. I like him.”
Betty Ireland, a first-grade teacher at Pine Street, said her pupils really like the idea of partnering up with an older student.
“It’s so neat to have a first-grader buddy up with a seventh-grade student,” she said. “They develop a friendship when we get together each month. To see the smiles on their faces when we get together, and their enthusiasm for reading books just with a bigger person with them, is nice to see. It gets them excited.
“Any different way we can try to get them enthused about reading is great and this is one of them,” said Ireland. “I would like to see this program continue. The kids love it and they get a lot out of it.”
The seventh-graders were at the school for about an hour before returning to PIMS.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
PIMS SEVENTH-GRADER Alexandra Lambert and her reading buddy Kayla Creasy spend some time with a good book during a Dec. 13 get-together between seventh-graders at PIMS and first-graders at Pine Street Elementary School who are involved in the Reading Buddies program.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
AFTER EXCHANGING CHRISTMAS CARDS, Alex Sweetser, left, Madison Michaud, and Meagan Willis, right, read some holiday stories at a recent get-together of participants in the Reading Buddies program. Cookies and juice were also shared making it an especially fun event.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
BRITTANY McPHERSON, a seventh-grader at Presque Isle Middle School, reads to Pine Street Elementary School first-grader Garrett Morneault, during a recent seasonal get-together between the Reading Buddies at the two schools.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
KAITLYN DYE, a seventh-grader at Presque Isle Middle School, reads a story to her reading buddy, Valerie Burby, a first-grader at Pine Street.
