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LADWP Recognizes Students at Union Ave. School for Reading Improvement As Part of Innovative Adopt-a-School Program; Winners Determined Through Quantifiable Reading Tests

Posted on: Wednesday, 7 June 2006, 15:00 CDT

Twenty-seven second and third grade students at Union Avenue School in the Westlake District were honored yesterday at the annual "Reading Olympics" recognition event sponsored by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), as part of the Adopt-A-School Program.

The students were selected based on quantifiable results of reading improvement as demonstrated during the testing process of the Open Court language arts program implemented by the Los Angeles Unified School District. The honored students were those that showed the greatest improvement in each class.

The students that were honored were from 10 classes in which two LADWP employee "reading coaches" have been working with students throughout the year.

Under the Reading Coaches Program two students are selected weekly to read a book orally to his or her class. The reading coach sits next to each student and helps him or her with words that may be difficult to pronounce. Then the coach reads a book in front of the class.

While students are reading the teacher takes a photograph of the student. The following week, when a reading coach returns to the classroom, students that read the previous week are presented with a certificate from LADWP that includes the photograph that was taken the week before.

On occasion, books read by reading coaches are provided to the entire class. These books are those from the LADWP-sponsored curriculum packages (usually provided through Teacher Workshops) that are beautifully illustrated and in full color with titles such as, "Mouse House Surprise," on electric safety or "King Barkley's Almost Birthday Disaster," that emphasizes energy conservation.

The Reading Coach Program was developed by LADWP Engineering Associate Oscar Medina, who is the adopt-a-school coordinator between the Water System and Union Avenue School. Like many of the students at Union Avenue, Oscar came to the U.S. as an elementary student only speaking Spanish. He was greatly helped in learning English by a volunteer, who worked with him after school.

Oscar has also been sharing information about the Reading Coaches program with other LADWP adopt-a-school coordinators which have also adapted it for their respective schools.

The Reading Olympics event will be aired on CityView Channel 35, the Los Angeles city government's cable access station, as a segment on the "LA This Week" program beginning on Saturday, June 10 at 9 a.m. The program and segment will also air four times daily, Monday through Friday, June 12-16 at 9 a.m., noon, 6 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

Union Avenue School is one of sixteen schools adopted by the LADWP. Under this specialized education partnership, employee involvement working with students and teachers is emphasized. Of the sixteen adopted schools, fifteen are elementary, two are outside the City near LADWP facilities and one is a high school (Francis Polytechnic High School).

The LADWP Adopt-A-School Program is part of the School Educational Partnership Program which also includes the Science Bowl, Teacher Workshop Series, Times in Education newspaper in the classroom program and the Youth Service Academy, a workforce development program for at-risk-youth.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is the nation's largest municipally owned utility. It has provided utility services to residents and businesses in the City of Los Angeles for more than a century.

Source: Business Wire

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