Lantana Elementary School’s new Reading Oasis is a public-private partnership between a book publisher and the local Kiwanis Club. Photo provided
By Amy Woods
This summer, Lantana Elementary School opened a new chapter in its history when it cut the ribbon to the Reading Oasis.
More than 1,200 children’s books fill newly installed shelving lining freshly painted walls. Beanbags the colors of the Google logo dot the floor. Inspirational posters about the importance of reading decorate the room. Homey throw rugs are scattered about.
“It’s just an environment that screams literacy,” Principal Janyn Robinson said of the converted resource room adjacent to the school’s media center. “It’s gorgeous, it’s bright, and every time you turn your head, there are books there.”
The Reading Oasis features a listening center for children to enjoy books on CD, offers the opportunity for students to take home titles they especially like, and invites fathers and mothers to visit during the school day so they can read with their little ones.
“The goal is not only to increase the interest in books but also to get our community and our families to come into the school more,” Robinson said. “This is a space where we want to see parents.”
Plans call for scheduled guest readings by community leaders and local volunteers who will promote the value of literacy to first- through fifth-graders at the Title I school.
The Reading Oasis was made possible through a public-private partnership between Scholastic, a publisher and seller of educational books, and the Hypoluxo-Lantana Sunrise Kiwanis Club. Scholastic contributed $5,000 toward the $10,000 project, and the club — armed with a $2,500 grant from Kiwanis International — came up with the rest.
“These Reading Oasis rooms, they’re very successful,” said Kiwanian Robert Martin, a Boynton Beach veterinarian who donated $500 toward the cause. “We’ve seen the difference in academic success that they make.”
The club has launched a fundraising campaign to cover its share of the costs, as well as the ongoing expenses of replenishing the book supply.
“There’s a huge, huge disparity in the availability of books and reading materials for underprivileged kids,” Martin said. “The idea is to bring them to children who otherwise would not ordinarily have them.”
One hundred percent of donations to the Hypoluxo-Lantana Sunrise Kiwanis Club goes back to the community. To support the Reading Oasis, call Rob Martin at 317-5303 or club Treasurer Sharon Randolph at 832-1175.
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