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by Nakia Herring
Baltimore Times
Originally posted 3/23/2007
http://www.baltimoretimes.com
Male students that attend Thurgood Marshall High School and now Samuel L. Banks are learning a valuable lesson that reading is truly fundamental. The Downtown Locker Room (DTLR) Book Club for Boys is encouraging high school boys to read for leisure, with the hope of improving their vocabulary and comprehension skills.
The program is the brainchild of Sherri Goodall, DTLR's Community Outreach coordinator.
“Through our community outreach, I visit a lot of schools and I talk to the teachers and students. One of the things that I kept hearing consistently was that the kids aren't doing well on their reading and comprehension on their standardized test—the boys in particular. As a student, myself, I did not enjoy reading until I got into college. Once I had a passion and thirst for reading, it was because I started reading books that were of interest to me,” says Goodall.
She continued, “I thought this was a great way to get kids reading and increase their vocabulary and comprehension. In talking to the kids, I realized a lot of the kids had not left their neighborhood or the state, they have never been anywhere. I know you can go a lot of places through reading. You can expand your vision. That was how the book club started.”
To get the boys attention, Goodall had to have a concept that was interesting for them.
“I started talking to them about things they would like to read about if they were going to read something. We started pulling and looking for books. Our first book was by a native Baltimorean, which I thought was fitting to start with. Kevin Liles' book, Make it Happen: The Hip-Hop Generation, was about him coming up through the ranks in the record label. Now he is CEO over at Warner Music Group,” she said. “I figured if I got them to read it, how much better would it be if Kevin came to lead the discussion. We reached out to him and he was able to come and that is the direction we have been going in ever since.”
Another book the club has read is Tupac Shakur's The Rose that Grew from Concrete. Afeni Shakur, Tupac's mother, and the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation came up from Atlanta to engage the boys in their book and discuss its content.
Goodall explained that they always work with the author and their staff to make sure they are able to come to the discussions. It also helps that the boys love the program.
“They love it. It is funny because kids that were not interested in reading now they are reading. I love to here the questions that they are asking, because I know they are reading the book. You can't ask the kind of questions they are asking and not have read the book. It is expanding their thought process and the way they are seeing themselves. I have gotten calls from teachers that have said the boys are reading at lunchtime. One teacher said a parent said they were floored to see their son sitting in the house reading a book that was not even required for school, only for leisure. It has made a great impact,” says Goodall.
Goodall plans to put together a list of books and see who reads them over the summer.
“The one thing I did not want is the book club to become is a burden to them. They already have school work and let's face it, they are teenagers. But I want to encourage them to take the initiative to read on their own.”
There are plans to encourage other students from around the city to become a part of the book club for boys. Goodall just needs to secure a venue that could host more kids outside of school hours.
“All the projects I do are important to me, but this one is near and dear to my heart. I have really seen the impact, and for me it is interesting to see the authors, most of the time they don't get it until they get here and meet the kids. I know people do book clubs all the time, but when you talk about a book club just for high school-aged boys, who sincerely have an interest in their reading, it is pretty phenomenal. I believe it is the subject matter they are reading and the fact that they get to meet the authors.
“My underlying mission is to see a city and other companies that would understand the value of literacy and encouraging kids to read. I want to make it a movement in and of itself. I don't care if there is a whole bunch of signs around town or a big campaign, but just for the kids to know that there is support for them around the community and their city. It is valuable that you learn to read,” encouraged Goodall.