Prince George’s County Kids and Teens Drop Everything and Read

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From Harry Potter to Jay Gatsby. Sherlock Holmes, Oliver Twist and Edward Cullen. Prince George’s County kids and teens made many new friends this year when they participated in the Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) program at area playground and teen sites. Readers marked the time they spent with a book – at camp and at home – on a board on the wall and with verification forms, said Kenya Rhodes, Recreation Specialist in the Central Area. The DEAR Program was first piloted in the Northern Area during the summer of 2010. Last year, organizers piloted the program at four Central Area summer playground sites and one teen site. This year, there are eight playground sites and four teen sites, Rhodes said. The top reader from two teen sites received a certificate and free Kindle as a result of donations from two local Recreation Councils. The playground sites that averaged the most minutes read also won a prize, Rhodes said. To start out the program, a Mother-Daughter author team came to talk about their book and gave tips on how kids and teens can be inspired to write their own masterpiece, Rhodes added. Kids at playground sites read for short periods per week and teens could opt to join a Book Club. Those at Thomas Johnson Middle School read about 30 minutes a week or even more, whenever they needed “time to chill,” said Andre Henderson, the site’s Director. Some kids loved reading, and wouldn’t stop. “Some of our kids are still reading and it’s over,” Henderson said. Ayo Tellis, 13, was one of them, reading Bloomability. She enjoys comedy books and books with poetry and reads about two hours each day. Tellis mostly loved being at the camp. “There are great friends that I made this summer,” she said. Readers could take home one book from a bin full of classics, journal books and new favorites like Twilight. Books in the program came from a variety of different places. DEAR organizers were able to buy books at discounts and ran a gently used book drive in May, which yielded 2,000 books, Rhodes said. Also, the Junior League of Washington, who is dedicated to different literacy projects in the Maryland/DC/Virginia area, donated 96 books to the program last year. This partnership, between the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and the Junior League of Washington began two years ago when the organization’s former president Maria Marks helped set up a book donation. “It was a really great opportunity,” said current President Wendy Cumberland. The JLW focuses on getting more reading materials at children’s homes and classrooms as well as encouraging reading aloud for young children, Cumberland said. Working with many organizations including The Literacy Lab and Horton’s Kids, the organization donated nearly 6,000 books this summer. Cumberland loves going to area schools and seeing the students’ excitement. “The kids were literally squealing with delight,” she said. She, and the rest of the women involved in JLW are thrilled to be helping kids. “We really want to continue to give back to the community,” Cumberland said. The JLW also focuses on combating the “summer slide” when students get slightly behind in school when they don’t keep up their learning. Prince George’s County kids and teens are defying this slide by grabbing a good book and dropping everything to read!