Seniors help teach kindergarten students to read

Senior citizens of the Island Park community read to kindergarten students at Francis X. Hegarty Elementary as part of the new district initiative called Senior Citizen Reading Partners Program on March 30.

Five senior citizens volunteered for approximately one hour in the school’s two kindergarten classes. The seniors each sat and read with a small group of students who learned new sounds and words and finished their time together with each student completing a writing prompt.

“This partnership and shared experience are so important for both our students and senior citizens,” said FXH kindergarten teacher Mary McDonald. McDonald was responsible for pitching the program idea to district administrators after attending a professional development workshop earlier in the year.  

“This is real work,” McDonald, the seniors “are helping me do my job.” McDonald first heard about the Senior Citizen Reading Partners Program from a professional development event, where she learned about an Indiana Pre-K school, which had senior citizens who lived nearby read to students. 

At the end of the year, the students were said to be reading at or above grade level and this sparked her interest to possibly have this program kickstarted at FXH. “I think it’s genius,” McDonald said, “I’m hoping the program grows, to have the kids and the seniors interact and participate is sweet.”

The kindergarteners have a reading system that begins at level A through level G. Usually, the children begin reading at level A and will gradually increase their reading skills throughout the school year. Students are allowed to read at their own pace and level and having an elder of the community witness their reading growth is believed to aid their progress.

“This is an amazing learning opportunity for our students, to become familiar with other people in the community who can impact their lives,” said Vincent Randazzo, superintendent of Island Park Public Schools. Randazzo explained that due to the coronavirus it was tricky for many years to invite members of the community into the schools and this program was the perfect opportunity to start doing so. 

Randazzo plans to extend this program to the Pre-K students as well. “We’d like to open up the door to get some of our seniors who live in the community to learn a little bit about all the wonderful things that are going on in our schools and also to help build connections between our youngest learners and the seniors,” he said.

The students were fully immersed in the reading and had smiles on their faces when conversing with the elders of the community. Students were reading from all levels A through G and those who were not participating were allowed to continue an interactive reading app on the iPads. 

FXH provided transportation for any seniors who volunteered and needed it. Additionally, most of the senior citizens that volunteered have a past in education. “Thank you for having us here,” said Lori Jacobs to Mcdonald, a speech therapist who was thrilled to interact with the children assigned to her. 

By working with the Island Park Library and offering transportation, the district hopes to make the Senior Citizen Reading Partners Program a regular opportunity for seniors and the Island Park Pre-K and kindergarten students based on volunteer sign-up. 

“We felt that our youngest learners would really grow from exposure to having their elders in the classroom,” said Alison Offerman-Celetano, assistant superintendent of Island Park Public Schools. “It really gives everyone a sense of community and builds that Island Park community pride,” she said in regards to her excitement of the program coming to life after many months of planning.

The next session of the Senior Citizen Reading Partners Program will be April 4th with the Pre-K students at Lincoln Orens Middle School. Randazzo said, “Connecting our youngest learners to the senior citizens in our community is an amazing way to help build character and social-emotional learning skills in our students.”  He went on to say, “We look forward to expanding this program to include more of our students and Island Park senior citizens.”