For the past nine months, a dedicated group of volunteers from the greater Teaneck Jewish community has been giving back each week through a very special program. They haven’t been collecting food or clothing for the needy or gathering essentials for the various local gemachs. Instead, they’ve been going back to school to take part in a program run by the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey called Bergen Reads. This program has proven to be successful as part of a nationwide effort to help combat illiteracy.
Bergen Reads is run in nine Teaneck and Hackensack public elementary schools. Primarily focused on children in grades K-4, Bergen Reads places “Reading Buddies” in each school who work one-on-one with students, helping them improve their reading skills and develop a love of reading. As they read together weekly from October to June, they become not just reading buddies but also mentors, advocates and friends to the students. According to Beth Figman, Director of Volunteer Services at Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, research indicates that “Until third grade, children learn to read; after third grade, they read to learn. We want to catch them during that window of opportunity.”
Figman shared with the Jewish Link that this year’s support for the schools in the Bergen Reads program went deeper than in years past. “This past year we ran ‘Supplies for Success—Give Back With a Backpack’ drive and supplied backpacks filled with school supplies to all schools in our program, for students in need. We plan to continue this effort again in August. On Mitzvah Day several shuls collected books that were gifted to the children in the program at the end of the school year. We also included one of our schools in Federation’s March Mega Food Drive. Federation’s volunteers are committed to helping those in need in our community.”
Fair Lawn resident Larry Bernstein, a former public school English teacher, a Jewish Link contributor and freelance writer, tutor and adjunct college professor, volunteered this year at the Nelly Parker Elementary School in Hackensack in Miss Saldana’s fourth-grade classroom. Bernstein reflected that “I found value in what I did and I also think I was able to establish good relationships with the two students with whom I read. I felt I was doing something that mattered.
“I used to be a full-time classroom teacher. I felt Bergen Reads presented me with an opportunity to combine my professional training with my love of reading to do an act of chesed and even outreach. I spent a lot of time listening to the kids I read with and I feel the talking and listening was just as important as the reading.”
Former pre-K teacher and Teaneck resident Shari Baran has been a “Reading Buddy” for the past six years. She chose to join the program in memory of her friend Bonnie Berman, a “Reading Buddy” at the Whittier School who unfortunately passed away from cancer. Baran signed up in her memory the following school year. She is now a volunteer in Miss Lawson’s Kindergarten class at the Bryant School in Teaneck. Baran noted “There aren’t a lot of Jewish kids at the Bryant School and yet, each year I think I’ve always had one Jewish kid who needed the extra one-on-one time.” Baran has used the Jewish holidays as an opportunity to bring in holiday-themed books from her teaching days to read to her Jewish kids.
“I feel like I’m helping these kids. I can see from the beginning of the year to the end of the year when that light bulb goes off and they connect the letters and the words and they get excited about reading. That’s an amazing feeling. Knowing I’ve helped them and I’ve also, hopefully, made a positive impression on the teachers and administrators at the school.”
Yael Rabitz has had a similar experience. She too is a former pre-K teacher and has taken her professional experience into Ms. Magill’s kindergarten class at the Teaneck Community Charter School. “Because I have an education background, we collaborate. I bring my books and my games and work with the kids and I can assess where the kids are. They all come running over when I get there and are so excited. They can really not wait to see what book I’m going to pull out of my bag. And I think if only my students had been that excited. I think to the staff and the administration, we’re representing the Jewish community at large in a very positive way.”
Bergen Reads celebrated its 15th year on June 15 with a special Volunteer Recognition Brunch. Special recognition was given to volunteers who have been with the program for 10 and 15 years. When the Bergen Reads program began in September 2001, there were 40 volunteers. Today, there are more than 150. These local volunteers consist of men and women ranging in age from their late 20s to 90. They are employed and retired, single and married, and some are even married to each other. “Reading Buddies” do not need to be reading specialists by trade, but all volunteers undergo a training before they enter the schools to work with the children. Bergen Reads is fortunate to have many former teachers among its “Reading Buddies.”
Bergen Reads is funded by the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey. The program also raises funds through its Book Centerpieces and Bima Baskets for Tzedaka, a program through which people making a celebration can rent beautiful book centerpieces and or bima baskets with personalized ribbons and other decorations. For more information about Bergen Reads or to sign up to be a volunteer next year, visit www.jfnnj.org/bergenreads.
By Sara Kosowsky Gross
