ROGERS -- Ana Palacios clutched a pair of graphic novels -- Drama and Smile -- she'd found while browsing the shelves at the Barnes & Noble bookstore. Both books were written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier.
"I like her books," said Ana, 11. "They're all about comics. I've only read one of (Telgemeier's) books before and I'm going to try to read these."
Ana was one of about 50 fifth-graders from Russell D. Jones Elementary School at the bookstore Thursday with their "reading buddies" from General Mills, volunteers who have spent time throughout the school year reading with the students.
General Mills provided enough money for each of the students to get up to $28 worth of books for summer reading. Students and their reading buddies met and shopped at the bookstore. The volunteers helped students make their choices while staying within the budgeted amount per student.
"It's a great program," said Ron Brophy, a General Mills employee who has been a reading buddy for five years. "It's fun to see them latch on to a book and get enamored with it."
The program began with teacher Elizabeth Smith's classroom 13 years ago. Volunteers come to the school once a month to read with students -- sometimes one on one, sometimes in small groups. The volunteers and students also exchange letters throughout the year.
The program has attracted enough volunteers that it now involves both Smith's and Rodney Fulton's fifth-grade classes.
"We saw throughout the years huge improvements in reading," Smith said about her students. "The whole purpose is to get more individualized experience to really make it hit home. It gives kids the feeling that, wow, someone really cares about how I read and what I read."
This is the second year General Mills has provided an end-of-the-year shopping trip for the children.
Brophy said he sometimes steers children toward books that are part of a series so they'll want to read the next book. He stood by Thursday while fifth-grader Nathaniel Chale, 11, chose his books: the first two installments in the Wings of Fire series and another called Plants Vs. Zombies. Brophy paged through the latter choice before giving it his nod of approval.
Nathaniel said he's enjoyed working with Brophy this school year.
"I'm more about reading now," he said.
Leon Evans, a General Mills analyst, strolled through the children's section with Tyler Watkins, 11. Tyler had a book about cars with a price tag of $15 and was looking for a way to spend the rest of his money. Evans and Tyler said they bonded this school year over a mutual interest in sports.
"It's been fun," Tyler said. "We have a lot in common."
Evans said he's seen significant growth in Tyler's reading ability, "But he was a really good reader to begin with."
NW News on 05/22/2015