THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 16, 1996 TAG: 9605140122
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Education
SOURCE: Jon Glass
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
A read-a-thon that involved children, parents and staff at 25 city schools netted $4,212.43 for the city's public library system, launching an effort to stock the library with more children's books and to draw in families who typically don't use the facility.
``Our primary goal was to generate excitement about reading,'' said Sally G. Reed, director of the city's libraries.
She said there's a direct link between the high percentage of students in the city who live in poverty and their performance in school. More than 60 percent qualify for free- or reduced-price lunch. Reed said the library should play a role in ``trying to bridge that gap between the haves and have nots in this community.''
``It seems clear to me that the library needs to identify and target the children and families who aren't traditional readers and library users,'' Reed said. ``You're not going to succeed in an information age if you can't read - it's that fundamental, whether you're reading a book or a computer screen.''
Nearly 400 people participated in the ``Read for the gold'' read-a-thon. Taylor Elementary had the most participants with 263, while Larchmont Elementary had 21 and Bayview Elementary had 20. Taylor raised the most at $10,081, while Larchmont generated $737, and Bayview collected $523.
Top nine readers citywide were:
Elementary division: Christopher Pagenkopf, Taylor, fifth grade; Dana DeLine, Taylor, fifth grade; and Kenneth L. Horn, Bayview, second grade.
Secondary division: Ernecia House, Rosemont Middle, seventh grade; Maria Atilano, Northside Middle, sixth grade; and Nicole Mason, Norview High.
Adult division: Gay Smallwood, parent of student at Blair Middle; Lucy Gates, communication skills specialist at Taylor; Mary Ann Bowen, principal at Taylor.
EAN awards scholarships
At its annual scholarship banquet this week, the Education Association of Norfolk handed out $500 scholarships to two graduating seniors who plan to become teachers and also gave a $250 scholarship to a teacher's assistant who is studying for a college degree in early childhood education.
The high school winners were Tenesha Jackson of Booker T. Washington and Colleen Blue of Granby. Jackson, daughter of Brenda Jackson, plans to study secondary education at Howard University. Blue, daughter of Mahlon and Judy Blue, plans to study secondary education at Mary Washington College.
Doretha Grant, currently a teacher assistant at Willoughby Elementary, will further her degree work in education at Tidewater Community College.
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK PUBLIC SCHOOLS by CNB