WCOM NEWS

5-28-04

Mentoring program pairs kids to make reading fun

MIRAMAR--Ivelka Farro and Allison Worrell are both from New York, both had to deal with big changes when their families moved to South Florida, and both like to read. With all that in common, their six-year age difference just doesn't seem to matter.

Ivelka, 9, a third-grader at Sunset Lakes Elementary in Miramar, doesn't have any older siblings and likes hanging out with older kids. Worrell, 15, of Pembroke Pines, is a sophomore at Miramar High who volunteers in her spare time.

They come together for an hour each week, with more than 30 other unlikely pairs, to share time, experiences and a book.

Since January, the Teen Trendsetters Reading Mentors program has joined third- and fourth-graders at Sunset Lakes with students from 10 high schools every Wednesday night for an hour of activities dedicated to making reading fun.

Part of a statewide mentoring initiative, the program was launched in 2002 when the Volunteer Florida Foundation partnered with Florida Trend's NEXT magazine for teens. According to the program's Web site, the organization conducted a summit at Universal Orlando and trained 29 teens to start mentoring programs in their areas. In 2003, 200 more teens were chosen to join the cause.

Kaila Letizia, 16, was browsing the Web site last year when she came across a link describing Teen Trendsetters. Though she loves math and science and hopes to be a pharmacist, she says reading is necessary for all disciplines. She submitted an essay describing her ideas for starting such a club in her community.

"I just really wanted to help out children," she said. "I wanted to make a difference in my community as a teenager."

One of the 200 teens chosen statewide, Letizia attended the summer training session and learned how to be a good mentor. A sophomore at McFatter Technical School in Davie, she decided it would be better to start the program in her home community and connected with Sunset Lakes, where her mother is a substitute teacher.

Hanging up fliers in local libraries and high schools, Letizia attracted 32 teens to join her. After training, each was matched to an elementary school student and the 10-week program began.

Using the $500 grant offered by Teen Trendsetters, Letizia ordered the books, office supplies and workbooks necessary for the program's curriculum. The initiative offers three levels of books to read and the children are tested at the first meeting to find out which story will best meet their needs. They then complete word searches, spelling exercises and reading comprehension questions on a different chapter of the book each week.

Ivelka at present is reading Make Way for Tooth Decay by Bobbi Katz.

"It teaches you about teeth and that you always have to brush them or else plaque will take over," she said.

The plaque and bacteria in question wear hard hats and run around people's mouths, which make it "kind of funny" according to Stephanie Mezerhane.

A big fan of Beverly Cleary books, Stephanie, 8, said that she had trouble reading at first and that she and her mom would often practice exercises like "think and read" at home. Now she reads for at least 30 minutes every day and says the mentoring program has helped her even more.

"I'm just learning lots of things and getting smarter every time," she said.

Her mentor is Zahra Bandeali, 15, a sophomore at Charles W. Flanagan High in Pembroke Pines who already has logged about 100 community service hours -- mostly working with kids.

"It's good when I teach them something and then they can use it elsewhere and report back to me on it," she said. "It's great to find out what kids are feeling and how to help them."

According to Letizia, the Sunset Lakes site is Broward's most successful Teen Trendsetters program. In addition, the Web site reports that Florida fourth-graders posted the highest reading gains of any state nationwide last school year -- a success attributed in part to an increase in mentoring programs.

But for Worrell, the program just offers a good atmosphere for students of all ages.

"Everyone here is just really friendly, and for teens and kids, that's sometimes hard to find," Worrell said.

(source) Sun Sentinel (Meredith Polley) 5-28-04