New program director with Read to Succeed begins school year

United Way of Southeast Missouri's Read to Succeed program is about to begin the school year with a new program director.

Charla Myers, who has worked in the early childhood and early intervention fields since 1996, just came on board Monday. Still, she already is searching for about 200 volunteers for five Cape Girardeau elementary schools.

"There's a large group that come back and do this every year, and then there are students who kind of come in and out as their schedule allows," Myers said. "Businesses send volunteers that allow people to give back to the community. A lot of that depends on their schedules. That's what I've been doing this week, is working on volunteer lists and seeing where we need more volunteers."

The Read to Succeed program is made possible by the United Way's GRACES Women's Council, Cape Girardeau Public Schools and a grant from Procter & Gamble. In the 2013-2014 school year, 191 of 192 students improved their reading proficiency by one complete grade level, according to a news release.

"Reading is a foundational skill for all learning, and children who don't read well typically don't do well in school. Everything we do educationally with children is language-based, and reading is an absolutely essential skill to be successful in school and then also to be successful in the adult world," Myers said.

If children aren't reached in the younger grades, Myers said, it can be difficult to get them back on track.

"I've talked to adults ... and these are older adults that were doing very poorly in school until they had a teacher that took an interest in helping them learn to read. Once they learned how to read and once they developed that love of reading, then they were able to do what they needed to do to be successful in school," she said.

Students are chosen for the program based on their reading skills and are paired with a volunteer for 30 to 40 minutes, four days a week, for a minimum of 45 sessions, the release states.

Research shows children who are not reading on grade level by the end of third grade are more likely to drop out of school. Some states use third-grade reading level to help estimate the number of prison cells needed in 10 years, the news release said.

Franklin Elementary School principal Rhonda Dunham said this will be the third year her school has had Read to Succeed. Anywhere from 12 to 24 children participate. She's noticed a significant improvement students' ability to sound out words phonetically, for example.

Dunham said volunteers always are needed at Franklin, and those who give of their time find it rewarding.

"These kids, they're kindergartners, they're going to love you forever. Our future depends on these little kindergartners. I encourage anyone that can volunteer to please volunteer. We practically worship volunteers," she added.

Myers plans to have a table set up to recruit volunteers from 6 to 7 p.m. Monday during Franklin's orientation night.

Volunteer training will be offered during the last week of August and first week of September. But those who come in after the training will be instructed by someone who mentors them, or Myers said she can go over procedure with them during their lunch hour if they work.

Myers was director of Workshop on Wheels and Resource and Referral at Southeast Missouri State University and Missouri First Steps as a regional and area director. During her tenure with those programs, she organized training sessions and conferences and worked with adult learners.

"This was a good fit with the skills that I had and ... it's work that I really enjoy doing," she said.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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