Mayors book club gets national attention

[Lunican]

Club brings out young readers in Jacksonville

By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY
Wayman Early Learning Academy sits across the street from the Eureka Garden Apartments, a subsidized, drug-plagued housing complex on the west side of Jacksonville that has had a rash of homicides.

Many of Eureka's low-income youngsters attend the child care center on the grounds of the Wayman Chapel AME Church. It's no wonder that when the bright blue, green and yellow backpacks of Mayor Peyton's Book Club arrive, "it's like Christmas time," says Regina Lee, the center's director.

Stuffed with books, a hand puppet, reading blanket, flash cards, T-shirt and other items, it's a gift that goes to any 4-year-old in Jacksonville who wants it, rich or poor. In its fourth year, the program is beginning to be emulated in other cities as part of a growing effort to improve early literacy.

"You can't get one until you're 4, and it's like a coming-of-age for preschoolers," Lee says. "They've seen older brothers and sisters with them."

In previous years, she remembers kids screeching when they received their books: " 'Look what I got, look what I got.' For a lot of them, it's the first time they actually get a book."

That's exactly what Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton was hoping for when he brought educators and other stakeholders together to devise strategies to better prepare children for school.

"All the science points to the fact that the sooner you can address the achievement gap, the better," he says. "Never had there been a day when everyone sat at the same table and worked on strategies for improving child readiness."

Full Article:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-10-14-bookside_N.htm

[Ocklawaha]

Look Jacksonville, here comes the Nobel Prize!

Ocklawaha