Sponsored by UD's McNair and University Undergraduate Scholars Program, HOLA, UD's Hispanic Student Association, and Campus Alliance de La Raza, the book drive has collected more than 1,000 books this year to be distributed to children who typically do not own a book. The book drive began 3 years ago after a McNair discussion on the correlation between owning a book as a child and academic achievement as a young adult.
Besides handing out books on Thursday, the group has sent a boxful of books to a school in Panama and gave 100 books to children last week during a holiday party at the Latin American Community Center in Wilmington, Del. They also have delivered a box of books for distribution to children at the Newark Food Bank.
The McNair and University scholars have been tutoring children each Thursday all semester, and Shawneila Pierre, a McNair scholar and a senior human services, education and public policy major, said that the most rewarding part of working with the kids was, “seeing the progress” that the students made from the tutoring sessions and “giving them the tools that will last them a lifetime.”
Amanda Strickland, a McNair scholar and a senior English major who took turns reading passages from a book with a student while he enjoyed his pizza, said that her favorite part about being a tutor was, “getting to help kids and see them grow and see them finally getting things that they haven't understood before.”
The night began with pizza and cupcakes, and after that, the kids listened to a reading of the book Snow Bear by Piers Harper. Fittingly, after hearing Snow Bear, each student was able to walk over to a table and select a teddy bear.
For more information on the McNair and University Scholars Newark-wide tutoring program, e-mail [mpalacas@aip.udel.edu].
Article by Adam Thomas