Cape Girardeau schools to participate in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Read-a-Thon

A chance to connect with the community and be around children are just some of the reasons 12 Southeast Missouri State University students turned out Wednesday for an information session on volunteering for the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Read-a-Thon.

This was one of two sessions led by Marcia Brown-Haims, associate professor in communication disorders, who said the total number of volunteers will be about 30. Taking place at seven Cape Girardeau public and private schools, the read-a-thon is held throughout February and has been going on for 15 years, Brown-Haims said.

The volunteers go to elementary and middle schools to share multicultural literature with the students. Brown-Haims said some books read to the students will be about King, but about three-quarters are multicultural. The visit also includes a discussion about King and a work sheet or coloring sheet to leave with students.

Brown-Haims got involved in the read-a-thon about 10 years ago as a volunteer -- something she plans to do again this year. Books that aren't about King are what Brown-Haims prefers, so she can discuss the slain civil rights leader's legacy with the youngsters and see how much of his message they've absorbed.

"My favorites are actually the fifth- and sixth-graders at middle school because they really do enjoy it. Like I said, they're just old enough that nobody reads to them anymore and they're just young enough that it's still kind of nice when somebody does," she said.

" ... Regardless of what age group I'm reading to, I always ask, 'If Dr. King were alive today do you think he'd be proud of us?' and they always say 'yes.' They always say, 'Yeah, I think he would,' which that just kind of gives me hope that the message is still getting through. ... But I've never had a group say 'no,' they didn't think so. A lot of times, if the children have multicultural students in their class, they might use that child as an example. When they're talking about Dr. King, they might say, 'Well ... he couldn't drink from our drinking fountain back then.' ... The older children really understand the message; the little ones [say] he had a dream. ... They may not know the words Dr. King used, but they usually understand, even the little ones understand, that the dream was about treating everybody the same."

Sisters Ashley and Timietra Elliott also are headed to the classrooms.

" ... Dr. King was actually one of my idols growing up as a child," Ashley said, "so when I heard about it, ... it was just like, 'Oh, that's something I'm interested in,' plus I just always loved children, so being around them and reading to them and knowing I was that child that when a guest came into the room it was just something that always made me excited; plus it's a great opportunity to reach out to the community and get them more informed."

Timietra said she was a tutor in high school and her favorite thing is working with child in the classroom.

"I find it's really important as an African American myself just to go ahead and spread Dr. King's legacy," she said.

Participating schools are Alma Schrader, Blanchard and Franklin elementary schools, Central Middle School, Head Start, St. Mary's School and Trinity Lutheran School.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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