Community Activities & Special Notices

Houston Area Literacy Pilot Program Success

Dear Jim,

I wanted to send you a quick recap of yet another successful event in Houston. We were approached by the University of Texas to try a literacy program with one of our area high schools. Volunteers were needed to interact with high school seniors and participate in a preparatory program to help them to prepare for the challenges of freshman English. The Houston Independent School District adopted a literary discussion model designed to engage students in higher-level discussions to result in better comprehension and appreciation of various literary works. The Houston Texas Exes accepted the challenge as we always look for ways to help the community in all aspects, especially promoting higher education. We had eight volunteers. Myself, Alisa Manning Peppers, chair, Raeanne Walker, Aimee Friend, Frank Karkowsky, Michael Louie, Lanette Varnadoe. We also had our president Chuck Weiser and president-elect Jill Willard Young attend every meeting and offer their full support. The event was offered through the Office of the Vice President for Community and School Relations and under the direction of the Assistant Vice President for School Relations, Dr. Bob Galvan. He and Robert Vasquez were our UT contacts.

The event was a huge success. The first task was to agree on reading material. The choices ranged from the Classic American Novels of the twentieth century; To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, and The Grapes of Wrath and more. We also had classic novels from British literature, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Wurthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and more. In all there were nineteen books narrowed down to six. The final six books were chosen and then the volunteers had to choose. We laughed as we checked the number of pages, looked for big letters and pictures and then we made our decisions. Each volunteer was matched with a student discussion group. After that it was time to read. The volunteers and students read the books and met to discuss the readings in a literary circle at Stephen F. Austin High School. The students seemed relaxed as they welcomed us to their campus. The volunteers enjoyed memories of their high school days as we told funny stories and enjoyed being a high school senior again. The literary circles were open and honest and everyone discussed the books. Each student took a turn to interact and talk with their volunteer to get his or her opinion or suggestion. The books ranged from sexism to racism from adultery to murder and the Austin High School students tackled these adult topics with interest and maturity. In our discussions we got a chance to experience an adult world through adolescent eyes. It was a great experience and the students appreciated the volunteer's input. Our final meeting with the students was on May 15th with their parents, English teacher Natalie Martinez, Vice-principal Ed Zamora, and Principal Jose Trevino. Each student group put together presentations and presented a summary of the books. We were proud as we watched professional power-point presentations, overhead projections, and even students dressed in authentic ethnic attire to add some excitement to their book review. We, as well as the parents were proud of the students and proud of the results. Enclosed is one big picture of the entire group.

The Houston Texas Exes look forward to next year's challenge.

Sincerely,
Alisa Manning Peppers