Summer reading slows the slide

July 17, 2017

Story and photos by Julie Colson Valley View Elementary Librarian Where can you find 50+ kids on Thursdays in July? Why, at the Valley View Summer Reading program! This year's program is starting strong with 47 kids attending our first session, and 60 kids on July 6. With teachers and support staff volunteering their time, we have opened our library. Kids of any age are welcome, and everyone has lunch, checks out books, plays chess, listens to a story read by our downtown librarians, and makes a craft. This year, we received two grants to facilitate our summer program: a Summer Reading Grant, which was used to purchase books and a few supplies, and a STEM Summer Reading Grant, which is being used to purchase items needed to support our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) oriented craft. Our first craft was making a bird nest ... and the kids had to find material around the room and use play dough to support their nest shape. They found it difficult to mimic the artistry of our bird population and also now understand why birds eggs are elliptical, not round, keeping them from rolling from the nest. There were 35 plus beautiful nests decorating our library, and many proud "parent birds" carefully holding their nest and eggs! Our next craft was noisy and fun! The kids made 'kazoos' out of popsicle sticks, tooth picks, rubber bands and a thin piece of paper. Vibrating paper and a stream of air makes sound, and what a cacophony it was! Our program ends with a snack, running through sprinklers and eating Otter Pops. Hopefully, each child will read the books they have checked out and stop the Summer Slide: the slide of their reading level. Kids who don't read over the summer can lose up to three months of reading skills. This can send them to school in the fall at a disadvantage and they have to scramble to catch up. School moves fast and sometimes catching up is very hard to do, especially if their reading level is low to begin with. A big thank you to our sponsors: the Lion's Club, Bonners Ferry Rotary, the Eagles Aerie, Super 1, Safeway, and Litehouse, Inc. We are also supported by our Boundary County Library partners and our grant benefactors at the Idaho Commission for Libraries. A great big thank you to our teacher helpers: Amber Weymer, Julie Holly, Terin Tyler, Connie Perez, Andrea Fuentes, Paula Petesch, Lisa Carle, Sheila Lavala, Pam Copeland, Kari Dameron and Teresa Rae. Sheila is our chess guru and it is amazing watching her play eight games at once, all with an intense level of concentration and patience. And how can I forget Steve Bortz and Robert Hendrich? They make the whole program work by keeping the school in tip top shape and working around the Summer Reading schedule ... thank you, guys!