Together We Can Read

I get to read at schools several times a year for many different events. It sounds like something you’re supposed to do or that you have to do, but it really is a lot of fun.

Yesterday, as a part of a collaborative between the City of Columbia and Richland School District One, I went to Brockman Elementary School to read to a class of third graders for the “Together We Can Read” initiative. It is an effort that gets community leaders into every third grade classroom to share a book and answer questions. The children are also given a copy of the book to take home for themselves, and for some of them it is the only book they have at home.

The driving force behind the three-year old project is City Councilwoman Tameika Devine, and I have been lucky to participate for two of the years. The hope of the program is that it will kindle a flame in children that will lead them to lifelong reading and learning.

After reading “Tori Explores South Carolina,” at Brockman Elementary we had a twenty minute free-ranging discussion about South Carolina and what a Treasurer does. I think my favorite question went something like: “How much tax did you make my mommy pay?”

Thank you to Councilwoman Devine, Richland District One, and everyone who made “Together We Can Read” another success. And, look for “Tori Explores South Carolina” by Ashlye Rumph-Geddis, a former School District One student and teacher, for your own children to read.