Reading together a learning experience for teens, young students

What was planned as a fun learning experience for the littlest students in St. John Vianney School, Colonia, was just as rewarding for their teenage mentors from St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Edison, in a “Reach Out and Read” event this month.

Fourteen high school football players and cheerleaders, dressed in their varsity uniforms, boarded a bus on Oct. 8 and headed to the kindergarten through third grade classes in the Colonia school to read aloud to rapt audiences seated on carpets in their classrooms. They had been “coached” by St. Thomas Aquinas athletic director Jerry Smith in “how to present themselves – how to be performers,” he said. “Kids know when you are sincere, so be entertaining, have a sense of humor, take turns, show them the pictures!”

“On the bus back to school, I saw the effect the young kids had had on our high school kids,” Smith continued. “They created a memory they will never forget. The football players were amazed that the kids thought they were professional football players.” He reminded them that they are role models whenever they represent the school.

Nancy Tannucilli, principal at St. John Vianney, shared that the day had a big impact on her students, too. “I knew our children would get a lot out of the story time,” she said. “But the love and respect that the high schoolers showed them was touching,” and left a big impression. “The high schoolers didn’t want to leave, and our kids didn’t want them to go.”

One of the high school boys was late returning to the bus – he was engrossed in a craft project with children related to the book he had read. Smith said his explanation for his tardiness was that “he was gluing!”

Junior football player Anwar Witherspoon said he came “because I remember when I was their age and people came in to read for us. I wanted to give them that joy.” Tabitha Appolon, a senior cheerleader, enjoys “brightening someone’s day, especially a child’s.”

“Reach Out and Read” is a national effort to leverage the pediatric well-child visit to foster early literacy, a love for reading by children, and healthy relationships between parents and young children. It is one of the childhood literacy programs supported by the Marisa Tufaro Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in memory of a Middlesex County child who died in 2017 after a courageous battle against a rare form of cancer that developed after a heart transplant. 

Marisa’s father, Greg, a sports writer in Central Jersey, first brought the concept of bringing the two schools together in support of the reading initative to Amanda Cleveland-Miller, a language arts teacher at St. John Vianney School and coach at St. Thomas Aquinas.

Greg and his wife, Cyndi, provided a tutorial for the student athletes to prepare for the reading session with the children, Amanda said, and she delivered the books to St. Thomas Aquinas in advance so the teens could practice their ‘read-aloud’ skills. 

“As a coach, my teams at St. Thomas Aquinas have participated in multiple Marisa Tufaro Foundation initiatives,” Cleveland-Miller said. “The student athletes always embrace the opportunity to serve others.” She introduced the students and teachers to the Foundation and held a number of events in support, including a dress down day and a book drive conducted with St. Joseph High School in Metuchen on the day of their rival football game. 

“My relationship with Greg Tufaro goes back twenty years,” Smith said. “When we learned about the foundation and literacy program, I said, ‘We’re in.’”