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PTAs focus on reading as bedrock of learning
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Posted on Jan 31 2005
Reading and imparting the skills that go toward teaching this habit to all children in the CNMI took center stage during the 7th annual Parents Teachers Association summit at the Aqua Resort Club last Saturday.
With the theme “Literacy Through a Supportive Family Environment,” parents, teachers and school officials were reminded, informed, and updated about their respective roles in supporting the learning process of children in schools.
The event was attended by PTA officers from Rota, Tinian and Saipan.
PSS Language Arts coordinator Stephen Smith said this year’s PTA summit focused on reading since they believe that reading is essential to learning, whether in school or in the workplace.
Education Commissioner Rita H. Inos, who gave the welcoming remarks, echoed this, adding that parents and teachers play vital roles in the learning of process of the students. She said PSS believes that the ability to read is the basic foundation for the students’ success in the future.
As part of the forum, PSS presented the Texas Reading Initiative program, which began in 1996 as a response to then-governor George W. Bush’s challenge to all Texans to concentrate on the fundamentals of education such as teaching all children to read. Bush had stressed that “every child, each and every child, must learn to read.
PSS presented at the summit the Research-Based Content Area Reading Instruction, which familiarizes students with structure and expository text, promotes content area vocabulary development, enhances word identification skills, improves reading fluency and focused and directly teaches how, why, when and where to use a selection of comprehension strategies.
Speakers at the summit included Josie Jones Lizama, a reading specialist; WSR Elementary School vice principal Lynnette Villagomez; San Vicente Elementary School principal Janet Villagomez; PSS Special Education coordinator Joanne Nicholls; PSS associate commissioner for instructional services Rita Sablan; Department of Community and Cultural Affairs representative Felicidad Ogumoro; and Division of Youth Service representative Vivian Sablan. (Marconi Calindas)
