WE NEED TO READ, SAY RED HOOK KIDS
New York Daily News; New York, N.Y.; Aug 28, 2001;

JOYCE SHELBY, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wearing T-shirts that in some cases almost touched their toes and holding placards high, the children of Red Hook were on the march yesterday. They called on parents, caregivers, seniors and other members of the community to read to very young children.

"We love to read! We love to read! Red Hook, Red Hook, we love to read!" more than 100 youngsters chanted as they paraded from the Police Athletic League Miccio Day Care Center through the Red Hook Houses.

The kids waved placards with slogans that said, "Read with me before I'm three," "Reading by one is so much fun" and "Keep hope alive. Read daily by age five."

Although yesterday's event was billed as a stroller derby and infants as young as 2 months did get pushed along, most marchers were preschoolers who happily walked the parade route, cheered on by seniors, neighbors and city Housing Authority workers.

The march was part of a campaign, Red Hook Reads, that began six months ago, encouraging reading to children as early as possible.

"Even in the womb," Rosemary Bland, director of the Red Hook Senior Citizen Center, advised at the parking lot outside the Independence Community Bank where the children assembled at the end of their half-hour march.

"We cannot get away from reading. Once we stop reading, we stop thinking," she said.

About 10 seniors at the center have read weekly to kids since the campaign started, said Bland.

Other community groups involved include Red Hook Rise, the neighborhood branch of the public library, Community School District 15 and the Red Hook West Tenants Association.

The campaign is funded by a two-year, $75,000 grant from Independence Community Foundation, which provided caps and matching T-shirts for yesterday's marchers.

"Isn't this wonderful?" Marilyn Gelber, executive director of the foundation, said as she watched the youngsters make their way through the housing project. "What could be a better demonstration than one demanding the right to read?"

Literacy Inc. is overseeing the campaign.

Reading scores reported in June for third-, fourth-, fifth- and seventh-graders at Public School 15 in Red Hook showed a decline.

According to Board of Education figures, 29.8% of the children read at or above grade level. The previous year, 30.7% made the grade.

Students at Public School 27 showed improvement, jumping to 23.6% from 16.7% reading on or above grade level.

Carmen Farina, the superintendent of Community School District 15, said, "We're supporting this program because it puts books in places that are more accessible to parents, and Red Hood Reads starts with the day care centers.

"We're finding that if we want to make a dent in the reading scores, you have to start when children are 2 or 3. The schools don't have the outreach for that, but the day care centers do," Farina said.