Kiwanis takes page from Dr. Seuss

Volunteer readers visit Summers Elementary

By Leanne Tyo
Published: March 3, 2010 in Lake City Reporter.com
http://www.lakecityreporter.com/articles/2010/03/03/news/doc4b8dddd86430a832881876.txt

LAKE CITY, FLORIDA - Lake City Kiwanis Club members invested their time for the betterment of students' learning by reading to them on Tuesday.

Members of the club volunteered at Summers Elementary School to read Dr. Seuss' children's books to students for the National Education Association's Read Across America day.

Read Across America is an annual program held on March 2 - Dr. Seuss' birthday - that celebrates reading for children in communities across the nation, according to the organization's Web site.

Kyle Keen, vice president of the Lake City Kiwanis Club, said this is the fourth year the club has participated in Read Across America at Summers Elementary.

Keen said his wife - Brandi Keen, a third-grade teacher at Summers and this year's Columbia County Teacher of the Year - originally invited him and his boss - Ronnie Brannon, Columbia County tax collector - to participate in the program three years ago.

Since then, participation has spread throughout the Lake City Kiwanis Club.

Research has shown that students do better in school when they are motivated and spend more time reading, according to NEA officials.

"We like to read to the students to help them become better students," Keen said. "We're here to serve the children. Our goal is to serve the children in Columbia County."

Roger Parish, a Lake City Kiwanis Club member and a volunteer for the program, said reading to the kids is "just fun."

"I like hamming it up with them," Parish said. "They enjoy it even more when you act the story out."

Terri Metrick, principal at Summers Elementary, said the children "adore" the Kiwanis members for reading to them.

"They think it's wonderful to have other adults come and read," she said.