Fall, 2000 No. 9 National Network of Partnership Schools
Bears, Parents, and the Community Help Students Read in Brooklyn, New York
The Sunset Park School established B.E.A.R. (Be Excited About Reading) Day to bring community members into the school to read with children, and to emphasize that adults think it is important to be able to read well. The event supported the school’s goals by focusing on reading and by bringing together the many stakeholders in children’s education.
B.E.A.R. Day involved the entire school, including over 1400 students in about fifty classes. Parents, elected officials and their representatives, members of community organizations and the business community, and school staff members volunteered as guest readers for each class. Parents who did not speak English well read to a class where their language was spoken, or they used a translator. One mother from Bangladesh brought a stuffed bear, a book to read, and her older son to translate.
Classrooms that were not given a bear on the day of the event, received one later, compliments of a local elected official. Bears appeared in offices, on desks, in classrooms, and on posters around the building. In an Assistant Principal’s office, a large bear sat in a rocking chair holding a book in its paws, while a smaller bear appeared to be listening to the story. If bears could read, then so could kids!
B.E.A.R. Day required no special training, however the Neighborhood Literacy Coordinator introduced classroom teachers to the project at a faculty meeting. A community organization donated books about bears for teachers to read to their students to get everyone into the spirit of the event.
The expenses of B.E.A.R. Day included invitations mailed to guest readers; breakfast of juice, coffee, and bagels; name tags and bear balloons; and lunch for guest readers (expense shared by the Parents’ Association). Parents crocheted a bear blanket, which was displayed in the front hall.
There was no formal evaluation of B.E.A.R. Day, but reactions were immediately apparent. The participants were very excited and requested another B.E.A.R. Day. Guest readers shared testimonials at lunch about the success of the day. Many of them had not been in a classroom for years and enjoyed the experience. Other schools and a daycare center have replicated B.E.A.R. Day successfully.
Adapted from: Promising Partnership Practices—2000, National Network of Partnership Schools at Johns Hopkins University.
