Verizon Foundation Sponsors University of Richmond, Richmond Schools Students in Literacy-Awareness Events
March 4, 2002
Elementary, high school and college students from Richmond schools will join forces March 15-16 to promote reading and literacy.
Highlighting the weekend, students at the University of Richmond will hold a reading marathon to raise funds for Richmond City Public Schools'Reading is Fundamental program. Verizon Foundation is sponsoring the event.
"Verizon is committed to doing what it can to improve literacy, not only in Virginia, but throughout our nationwide service area," said Robert Woltz, president of Verizon Virginia. "Richmond's reading marathon is just one of numerous activities our company is engaged in to foster literacy."
Students from Open High School will join university students to read aloud Homer's "Odyssey" on March 15. University students also will read Milton's "Paradise Lost" on March 16. Readings begin at 7:30 each evening and last until dawn in the living room of the university's Whitehurst Hall.
Also on March 15, students at Fairfield Court Elementary School will hold a sleepover at the school, during which they and their parents will participate in activities that promote reading at home.
University of Richmond students will read Greek myths with the Fairfield students during the program. Verizon Foundation awarded a $5,000 grant to Richmond City Public Schools to underwrite expenses of the weekend and provide a direct gift to RIF.
The selection of the "Odyssey" has particular meaning for the reading marathon, noted Julie Laskaris, assistant professor of classics at the university. "Though it is an esteemed work of early Western literature, it arose in the oral tradition of a non-literate culture." Both Open High School and the university teach the epic poem.
The high school students "are genuinely enthusiastic about the event,"said Clary Carleton, an English teacher at the school. "The poem is a student favorite because of the exciting, fantastical adventures of the hero. It is often the students' first introduction to the enchanting world of Greek mythology." In addition, she noted, oral language and the presentation of dramatic readings are components of the Virginia Standards of Learning in English at the high school level.
Although "Paradise Lost" is primarily a written text and Milton was from a highly literate culture, "he still saw fit centuries later to model his poem on the great oral epics of Greek antiquity," said Louis Schwartz, associate professor of English at the university. "The poem reads beautifully and dramatically. I've had students in my Milton classes read it as a marathon almost every year for more than 11 years."
This is the second year that students have turned the marathon into a fund raiser to support the RIF program. Last year, students raised approximately $1,400. Not only has the program expanded to include literacy activities by three schools, but, Schwartz said, "it is one of many programs developed by the university's faculty and students to provide a beneficial service to the local community."
"Donations are a critical component of the program," said Joan Phipps, Richmond's RIF director. Schools must raise matching money in order to receive federal RIF grants. "The reading marathon will benefit Fairfield Court directly in its effort to raise matching money for this year's grant," she said.
As a local affiliate of Reading is Fundamental, Richmond City Public Schools is part of a national network that has become the nation's largest children's and family literacy organization. The Richmond affiliate distributes more than 52,000 books each year to about 16,000 children, most of whom come from low-income households and would not otherwise have story books in their homes, said Phipps.
The reading marathon is open to the public to participate or observe, Schwartz said. Students are also seeking sponsors to pledge donations based on their hours of participation. For more information, contact Schwartz at 804-289-8315 or lschwart@richmond.edu, or Laskaris at 804-289-8734 or jlaskari@richmond.edu.