By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
For many people, it is difficult to remember all the way back to when they were 6 or 7 years old. But if they could, it might conjure mental pictures of being in a classroom and struggling to recognize words that they knew would help them uncover the mystery of reading just like the adults.
Truthfully, some children can pick up on the learning hints given by the teacher, and then, suddenly, with some phonetic help, the mystery of reading unfolds as they progress, and the random pages full of letters suddenly become clear to them, appearing as words that mean something. Children feel the victory of their efforts at learning and begin to look forward to the next challenging book.
Others, unfortunately, don’t catch on as fast as their peers, and the mystery of making those printed words make sense to them stays frustratingly out of reach.
But there is help.
The One To One Reading coaching program was initiated in 2007 and 2008 as a pilot program under the Northern Kentucky Education Council to try and address the problems of getting all the young students to catch on to reading. They understand that reading is made up of building blocks, and if children don’t know the foundation blocks, they can’t build more learning onto weak or faulty foundation blocks.
“We launched our program in 2007-2008,” said Polly Page, Director of the One to One program. “We had five schools and 35 coaches in the Kenton County school district. Vision 2013 supported the work. We had an Education Summit and we decided this was an initiative that we wanted to pursue in Northern Kentucky. One of our huge champions was Dr. Ray Ebert, who just passed recently.”
She said this year they will celebrate 20 years of service, and this year will begin with 200 students and 160 coaches.
On Tuesday there were two back-to-coaching events, one at 1 p.m. and one at 5 p.m. at the Erlanger library.
People who have already coached reading were invited to attend one of the sessions that featured Felicia Cumings Smith, the President and CEO of the National Center for Families and Learning as the main speaker.
“I want to thank you for changing children’s lives every day,” she said at the first session. “There is no other place I would rather be, and I could be anywhere in the United States. It is truly my honor to be here with you all, an amazing group of coaches.”
Cumings Smith spoke just before the coaches broke into extra learning sessions.
“The coaches also attended a book talk given by librarian Lisa Clark, who explained about the books that children love,” explained Page. “After that the coaches all received their supplies, logistics and, of course, forms.”
But before the seats filled up in the Bronte room at the Erlanger Library Tuesday, some of the coaches reminisced about their coaching.
Sheila Peeno was a teacher at both Ninth District in Covington, and at Northpointe in Boone County. She said they gave her the fifth grade to teach at first, and she asked to be put with the ‘little people’ in the first grade. She doesn’t teach anymore, but volunteers at several places, and coaching reading is one that is very gratifying for her. This is her second year at coaching.
“I love it when I see their eyes light up when they know they’ve got something,” she said, her eyes lighting up as she remembered. “It can be just the simplest little thing, but we just say, ‘Oh, you’ve got it, you’ve really got it’, and they are so excited about it! And we all celebrate it!”
Recently Peeno’s husband died, and as she puts one foot in front of the other, she knows that in helping others, she is helping with her grief, so she plans to continue helping the little ones to understand how to read.
Melissa Kramer, City Clerk and Public Relations Administrator for the city of Florence, is entering her second year in the One to One program.
“I love reading,” she said when asked why she volunteered. “I have always read with my children, and I just think it is important for children to be read to. I volunteer at Florence Elementary. What is really rewarding is the joy that I feel when they discover something. I had a little girl last year. Sometimes I feel like I got more out of it than she did. I love it, and I like giving back.”
Debbie Bogenschutz is from Ludlow, and like several other coaches, she volunteers for several things, especially at the school. She started coaching reading during the pandemic, she estimated around 2022. She had bumped into an old boss from when she worked at NKU and was persuaded to try coaching.
“It’s just so much fun,” she enthused. “And the books they have for 7 and 8 year olds are really interesting! Ludlow only has this program for second graders, so I do that age kids. What I find rewarding is as I coach I see them really enjoying learning to read. I have a goal of sorts that the kids learn that reading a book is not a punishment, it is a joy. It’s fun, and it only takes less than an hour of my time a week, even with travel time.”
In addition to the schools in Northern Kentucky, which consists of Boone, Kenton, Campbell, Pendleton and Gallatin counties, they also include Scott County. The former deputy superintendent from Boone County, Dr Karen Chesser, added three schools in that county because she knew the value of the program.
Subsequently, Chesser moved out to Durango, Colorado, and currently there are 7 schools in that city that are in the program. That makes 38 schools altogether, although in Northern Kentucky the program is in 28 schools.
“Last year we coached 4,774 students, and this year we expect that number to climb to 5,000,” said Page. “Our coaches are the heartbeat of the program. Some of our people have been coaching for 20 years.”
At Tuesday’s season, Randy Poe, former Boone County Superintendent and now Executive Director of the Northern Kentucky Education Council, spoke briefly about how important reading is to him. As a child, he was dyslexic, and when he became an adult, he volunteered as a reading coach.
“I will tell you what has been said before, that you may not remember every conversation you have with a student, but they will remember for the rest of their life that someone believed in them,” Poe said. “You may never know the life you changed.”
Another speaker was Ludlow Superintendent Jason Steffen, who told the group that Winston Churchill said, a living is what you make, but a life is what you give. He said not only are the reading coaches helping children to read, but they are also developing a relationship,letting those children know that they are important, and their coach will be there for them.
“From my heart, I thank you all,” he said. “You are making an impact on the children’s lives.”
The superintendent of Erlanger Elsmere schools, Matt Engel, told the coaches basically the same thing.
“If the child that you coach knows that you are coming on a certain day, that child will show up that day, even if that child struggles with attendance, because you are coming.” he said. “They show up because you show up. I also thank you for the time you give.”
Page said while the coaches are vital to this program, they are also appreciative of the partner schools who make sure their students get this help. They are very thankful for the help they get from the libraries, who are very supportive, and always provide space for the training sessions.
“We also like our sponsors, Central Bank, the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, and the Boone County Early Literacy Foundation,” said Page. “To date, we have given out over 9,500 books to children.”
Tuesday’s sessions were only for returning coaches, but Page said they hosted a training session for new coaches last Saturday, and they will be having one more in late September or early October. Registration can be accessed through www.nkyec.org/one-to-one.
She said that as many good people as they can get, they still need more, because so many children struggle with reading.
“Our motto is ‘coach a child, change a life’,” she said. “It is giving back in a very special way.”