
DATE: Thursday, July 24, 1997               TAG: 9707230150

SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN             PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Cover Story 

SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   93 lines

BRINGING READING HOME A PROGRAM ENSURES THAT CHILDREN WITHOUT WHEELS STILL PARTICIPATE IN A SUMMER READING PROGRAMS.

DOZENS OF SMALL sneakered feet pound the hot asphalt as children dart out of their front doors and run across an empty parking lot into the community center's air conditioned cool.

At 10 a.m. scorching temperatures have already stilled most activity at the Cypress Manor/Parker Riddick public housing complex.

One exception is the weekly session of the summer reading program where children eagerly crowd the center.

Similar to summer programs presented at local libraries, this new reading program, sponsored by the Suffolk Literacy Council and the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, brings an hour of educational entertainment to children who have no transportation to a library.

``Without programs like this coming into public housing, the majority of the kids would just wander with nothing to do,'' Gia Jackson said. Jackson is a family self-sufficiency coordinator for the housing authority.

Fifty pairs of eyes focus on Ann March, tutor coordinator for the Literacy Council, as she reads aloud from a rhyming picture book about insects. Soon youngsters, and a few parents, chime in with the correct answers to her questions.

``What jumped from Queenie's back when she was squeezed?''

``Fleas!'' yell her eager listeners.

``What ran across the rug at full speed?''

A mother, caught up in the kids' excitement, blurts out `` a centipede.''

Aubrey Everett, a science teacher from Forest Glen Middle School and the day's special guest, talks about bad bugs and not so bad bugs.

The youngsters listen carefully, waving their hands, eager to be called on and, perhaps, earn a reward from Everett's prize bag full of science related toys.

``It is fun to come here and do fun things like playing games,'' Brittany Lawson, 9, said. A Mount Zion Elementary third grader, Brittany has been to every session and is usually one of the first to arrive.

Michael Madison, 8, loves to read and begged his grandmother, Ruby Madison, to bring him to the reading program. ``This is good because it gives the parents a little break, gives the kids something to do, and helps them when they go back to school,'' she said.

Beyond the program's entertainment value, March and the other volunteers are hoping the project will help promote literacy.

Surprisingly, illiteracy is still on the rise, according to March, who said that a 1992 study by the U.S. Department of Education found 90 million functional illiterates across the country.

``Illiteracy is inter-generational,'' March said, adding that although the Literacy Council focuses on teaching adults to read, quite often it is possible to reach adults through their children.

The summer reading program will continue at 10 a.m. on Tuesday mornings at Cypress Manor/Parker Riddick and also at 10 a.m. on Thursday mornings at the Colander Bishop public housing complex.

Future sessions will include kid centered nutrition programs sponsored by Obici Hospital and visits by members of the Nansemond Indian tribe. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by MICHAEL KESTNER

Color Cover photo: Shikeyla Davis

Ann March, tutor coordinator for the Literacy Council, reads a

rhyming picture book about insects.

Rojhaim Cherry, 8, left, and his brother, Mykell Cherry, 6, listen

to March's reading of book on bugs.

Four year old Shikeyla Davis grabs onto her hat as a Tuesday morning

reading session about bugs gets a little exciting. Davis is a

participant in the reading program at the Cypress Manor/Parker

Riddick public housing complex.

Shikeyla Davis hides under her hat, but still keeps a close eye

peeled for the presentation on bugs during the Tuesday morning

summer reading program.