Early risers devour breakfast and books
60 students attend reading club at school
EDMONTON— Eight-year-old Marisa Au struggled with her reading when she joined Dunluce Elementary School’s early risers reading club last spring.
Now in Grade 3, Marisa was one of about 20 students who regularly attended the club when it was established last March, after school staff decided it would be a fun way to combine breakfast and books.
This year, about 60 kids attend the reading club that meets at 8 a.m. three days each week. Teachers and parent volunteers serve up whole grain toast, fresh fruit, cereal and smoothies, then students head to the library to relax with some good books.
“Since last year, her reading has improved 100 per cent,” said Marisa’s mom, Brandi Middaugh. “Last year, she could barely write a sentence. This year she is writing pages of paragraphs.”
The school, at 11735 162nd Ave., serves a diverse population of students, principal Bryan Evans said. Many kids come from families who speak other languages at home, including Arabic, Somali, Vietnamese, Punjabi, Urdu, Ormo, Turkish, Tagalog and Spanish. About 30 per cent of Dunluce students are English language learners and some have recently moved to Canada, Evans said.
Teacher Charlene Banjac said students in her Grade 2 French immersion class speak eight languages. Banjac helped the early risers club win a grant recently from the Junior League of Edmonton that will help fund supplies and food for the next three years.
Although many schools offer literacy programs in and around Edmonton, a check with several other area school shows Dunluce might be the only school that combines a reading club with breakfast.
The early risers reading club started after Grade 1 French immersion teacher Marla Korcek, who previously ran a recess reading club at Dunluce, found time was too short. So she asked the principal if she could start an after-school club.
“He said, ‘Well, why not in the morning and then we can also give them something to eat?’ because I was seeing kids who don’t eat breakfast, for whatever reason. … By lunchtime, if they haven’t eaten, their heads are on their desks and there’s no learning going on,” Korcek said. “I really see a difference in the kids who have been coming.”
In the open, cheerful library, students gather in groups on the floor and at tables to hear stories read aloud. Others find a quiet spot alone to settle down with a book.
Grade 4 student Perla Al-Hassanieh read a picture book called Song and Dance Man Wednesday morning in the library, but said she mostly reads chapter books and loves mysteries best.
“It just takes me into the story,” said the eight-year-old student who speaks Arabic and reads often at home. “It’s really fun.”