Service project gives books to city studentsBy: Shane Rice
-Staff Writer-
Inspiring Communities Unconditionally (ICU) will be working with parents and children to help resolve a growing illiteracy issue among student youth on May 1 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and May 2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Kirkwood Station Plaza.
“A child that leaves school at the end of the school year and does not have access to books can lose up to two or more grade levels in their ability to read,” said Vickie Nitzsche, performance coordinator for ICU.
ICU has partnered with ALIVE (Alternative Living in Violent Environments), Urban Futures, St. Louis City Library, Redbone Products Inc. and Scholastics Book Inc. to help resolve this growing issue.
Based on a report done by Anne McGill-Franzen and Richard Allington, professors at the University of Florida, “the key to stemming summer reading loss is finding novel ways to get books into the hands of children during the summer break.”
ICU’s annual event, Spring into Reading, is a program intended to show children that reading can be exciting.
Tammie Renfro, coordinator for ICU, said the mission of the organization is to create and inspire a greater passion for reading among children.
“This is a win-win situation for the children of our community,” said Renfro.
More than 10,000 St. Louis City children in the summer reading club will receive an empty book bag sponsored by the St. Louis City Library. The goal of ICU is to fill these bags with books.
There will also be a scholastic book sale, live children performances, carnival games, story time, face painting, live music and a children’s activity center.
