SVES gets enthusiastic about reading

“Everyone reading at grade level by 2008” is the PSS mantra heard often in teachers meetings and assemblies. Into the third year of a valiant attempt to accelerate reading levels in the public school system, parents, teachers and students at San Vicente Elementary School gathered Wednesday night, March 30, 2005, in various classrooms to hold their annual Be Enthusiastic About Reading (BEAR) night.

With the alarming illiteracy rate in the nation’s high school population, and the requisite employment demand for sophisticated communication skills in public services, private businesses, civic associations, and civil discourses, the task of learning how to communicate effectively has become critical.

SVES says learning results begin with Competent Communicator in its acronym, CANARIES. Reading and writing, listening and speaking, are all crucial components to effective communication. In a time of talk shows and in-your-face confrontations, speaking one’s mind seems to be the preferred skill of choice. Many students failed miserably in last year’s listening component of administered assessment tests. The epidemic of verbal diarrhea afflicts many classrooms and public assemblies.

Parents reading to their children, as well as listening to their children read, is a highly effective way of enhancing students’ reading and listening skills. SVES, like all other public schools, engages families of their students in home reading programs.

“Newly acquired reading materials in every classroom that may be checked out by both child and parent is an incentive to promote reading on family time,” said 5th grade teacher Betty Miller and SVES BEAR coordinator.

Dr. Sam Hill of the accreditation team that recently visited SVES commended the school for its efforts in Reading and had suggested that the same effort be directed to its Science program.

“We tried very hard to look for something wrong with your design plan and implementation methods,” Hill said in his congratulatory remark, “but could not find any.”

Later, SVES principal Janet Villagomez would utter this statement that has become her trademark: “We cannot rest on our laurels. We must double our efforts to achieve more for the sake of the students.” To those who would suggest that the school may be setting itself to fail by setting too high a standard, her retort had been: “We are only setting ourselves to try.” With her characteristic driven attitude, that spells trying very hard, indeed.