Adding to the mounting dialogue on American education, US Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Thad Cochran (R-MS) introduced a bill on Monday to continue support for a national program called Ready to Learn. The subject of the bill will likely hit home for many students at Tufts, as improving children's education and learning has been a longstanding goal for many campus groups.
Kennedy and Cochran's bill, "Ready to Learn, Ready to Teach Act of 2001," seeks to ensure the progress made by the Ready to Learn program, which was established in 1992.
Education was a hot topic among the candidates in last year's presidential election, and was especially relevant to college students. The candidates mostly targeted early learning, saying it is the most crucial time in a student's academic career, and that a shaky start can create numerous problems in the future.
President Bush has stayed true to his word, and just three days into his term he unveiled his own education reform package, one he hopes will force America's public schools to shape up, providing an alternative in the form of school vouchers. This plan, however, has been met with large opposition from democrats, who feel that public schools should not be abandoned, and that the government should do all it can to aid children.
Tufts students are doing their part to combat the growing illiteracy problem in America through initiatives such as a program sponsored by Tufts Hillel is this Sunday called "Read by the River." Just as television programming on Ready to Learn strives to make learning fun for children, Read by the River hopes to get children excited about reading.
The culmination of Read by the River will be a carnival in Cousens Gym. There will be 18 booths, each run by various Tufts organizations and each focusing on encouraging reading and literacy. Last year, this event attracted 200 children from Medford public schools, despite a last-minute location change. Organizers hope this year's event will attract at least 500 children.
Read by the River has also expanded since its inception last year to include social advocacy and lobbying. These efforts and its mission statement link the program to national education initiatives, like Kennedy's bill.
"It all ties in together because it's all about teaching and promoting literacy and education," said Lauren Bloom, program director for Tufts Hillel. "The carnival, as huge as it is, is just a piece. We're trying to make change and educate the community on literacy... We've become change agents."
Throughout the year, representatives from the Read by the River program met with local elementary school principals to see what their schools need to better teach children. In turn, Read by the River sponsored book drives, wrote petitions, and did all that it could to help these school get supplies they need.
This weekend's carnival will include reading circles run by students, professors, and other Tufts groups, including Provost Sol Gittleman and Traveling Treasure Trunk. The Pan-African Alliance will also host a booth at which children will design book covers. The booths are aimed at making reading fun for children. Members of the Medford Library will also be there with library card sign ups, giving more children access to reading.
The Ready to Learn program was created to give children the tools they needed to learn, primarily through public programming, with shows such as Arthur, Barney & Friends, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, The Puzzle Place, Reading Rainbow, and Sesame Street.
"Today, by the time [children] enter school, the average child will have watched 4,000 hours of television. That is roughly the equivalent of four years of school," Senator Kennedy said through a press release. "Through Ready to Learn television programming, children can obtain substantial educational benefits that turn TV time into learning time."
In addition to funding these shows, the Ready to Learn Program created workshops for parents, day care workers, and teachers, providing them with the information to help kids learn. These workshops are hosted by local Ready to Learn stations. WGBH, Boston's public television station, hosted 34 Ready to Learn workshops last year. Two hundred books were also given to each Ready to Learn television station, and distributed in the area.
Kennedy's bill, the "Ready to Learn, Ready to Teach Act," has been proposed as a way to strengthen the previous Ready to Learn program, by increasing its budget to $50 million a year, up from $30 million. In addition to funding many of the programs above, this bill adds a new Ready to Teach program, which is aimed at realizing student's potential by improving the quality of teachers.
The Tufts event has been advertised at local elementary schools, encouraging kids to write book reports before the event. With each book report a child brings with them, they will receive a free movie pass.
Event organizer Marissa Goldberg, a freshman, said she is looking forward to interacting with the kids, and hopes the carnival will make an impact - "If there is just one child who leaves at the end of the day with a desire read, then I think we've done our job."
