Hundreds of North Little Rock kindergarten students heard stories on Thursday with some familiar characters.
Under the "I Like Me" program, volunteers read to the students from a book in which the student and his or her friends, teacher, principal and school each played a role.
About 100 volunteers, including members of the North Little Rock Rotary Club, staff from the mayor's office, North Little Rock School District employees and 20 officers with the North Little Rock Police Department, distributed the personalized books to 574 kindergartners in the district on Thursday and read the books with the students.
Each book is printed specifically for each student with the student's name, two best friends, classroom teacher, principal, and school name.
Those elements are interwoven into a story with a message about learning to do the right things, staying in school, learning to read, staying away from harmful substances, and developing self-esteem.
For many of these students, this is the first book they have ever owned, Russ Kelso and John Hall, the Rotary Club's co-chairmen, said in a news release.
The club has sponsored the program for 23 years. Members and the donations they raise pay for the publishing of the books through Kindergartners Count, Inc., a nonprofit organization in Topeka, Kan.
The personalized information for the students was entered by a team of six Rotarians and 20 students from the North Little Rock High School's Education Accelerated by Service and Technology class in a computer lab at the school.
Hall said many of the high school student volunteers still have their "I Like Me" books from kindergarten and volunteer because of their love for them.
"During covid we read using Zoom," he said. "I got a thank-you note from the teacher in one of the classes I read for and she said her fiance still had his 'I Like Me' book. I thought that was kind of neat. It's been a good project. I mean, everybody, I think, needs to do something for literacy at this point."
Hall added that the main goal of the program is to help students learn to read.
"Hopefully we can help a little bit anyway at literacy, and also it tries to teach liking yourself, not doing drugs, respecting other people -- things like that," he said.
Kelso said he got involved in the Rotary Club because of his wife, who was a principal, and his children, who attended schools in the district.
"It was just a program that fascinated me because I love reading," he said. "It is just greatly rewarding to feel like you've started some of these kids, hopefully, on a path where they will get to love reading, too."
Kelso recalled from one of the previous book distributions, a teacher shared that one of her students spoke for the first time that year because of the reading.
"That's the kind of thing that keeps you coming back," he said.
At Ridge Road Elementary, Principal Matthew How said the program is a great opportunity for the students to see their name in print and encourage them to read.
"Especially this year, more so because of what we're trying to do in the building to get our scores up, not just because of the scores, per se, but our kids have got to be lifelong readers," How said. "They have got to know how to read to be successful."
The school just finished its annual book fair, started a book donation drive and will have a theme of "Reading is Snow Much Fun" beginning Dec. 5.
Ashley Yenner, a kindergarten teacher, said the personalized books get her and her students excited about reading.
"Just seeing their faces light up when they were given the books and as they're reading it. ... It's just been a joy in there, and I really hope it really ignites excitement in them, because reading changes everything," she said.
North Little Rock police Lt. Craig Edwards said he volunteers because it's important to build a bond between the students and the department.
"I used to be a [school resource officer] before I got promoted. I worked at the high school," he said. "So, still having that connection with those kids as they get older, and seeing them out in public, contributing to society, becoming good people -- it's important."
At Boone Park Elementary, kindergarten teacher Cassandra Garvey said the school has participated every year since she started in 2014.
"I love how the kids get to see their names in literature because a lot of our kids don't have the chance to see their names in books, or on key chains or things like that," she said. "So they see their name in their book. and they get so excited because it instantly connects them to that book. And then they get people [who] come in here and read their names to them with their friends, and they truly enjoy it. They love it."
Russell Kelso (center), co-chairman of the North Little Rock Rotary Club, points out children’s names in their “I Like Me” books while reading to Ashley Yenner’s kindergarten class at Ridge Road Elementary School on Thursday in North Little Rock. Volunteers read and distributed copies of the book to kindergarteners in the district Thursday. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe)