DATE: March 20, 2007

CONTACT: Tiffany A. Flowers, (864) 656-2571
tja@clemson.edu

WRITER: Latrice Lary, (864) 656-2571
LLary@clemson.edu

Elementary school children paired with Clemson Buddy Readers

CLEMSON — Elementary school students in the Clemson area have a new buddy. The new Buddy Readers Project pairs Clemson University students with students in pre-kindergarten to third grade in a children’s literature project that includes teaching, research and service.

Clemson University students serve as “buddy readers,” reading a children’s book with the elementary student weekly, then preparing a service-learning portfolio that will document service, research, teaching and learning activities.

“A primary goal of this project is to share the joy of reading aloud multicultural children’s books in pre-kindergarten to third grade,” said Tiffany Flowers, lecturer in the department of teacher education.

“The interesting feature of Buddy Reading is that one of the readers is a more experienced reader than the other person,” said Lamont Flowers, Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership and director of the Charles H. Houston Center for the Study of the Black Experience in Education. “Thus, during the reading exchange, the less experienced reader has the opportunity to learn valuable lessons about reading skills, academic motivation and the importance of reading.”

Clemson University educators teamed up with community members with an interest in enhancing reading skills to create the Buddy Readers Project, funded by the Clemson University Service Alliance. The project was created by Tiffany Flowers; Lamont Flowers, Sharon Hwu, director of the Clemson Child Development Center; Debra King, director of the Littlejohn Community Center; Earnestine Williams, principal of Kellett Elementary School; and Caroline Mills, graduate assistant in the university’s Tillman Hall Media Center.