Bedford school gets center to promote reading

Students at Stonegate Elementary School can relax in a comfy beanbag chair while reading a new book.

Last week, the school received a generous gift of a Reading Oasis, which is a center that gives children and their families a quiet, relaxed environment for reading. Reading Oasis is a United Way program, and there are centers in 19 schools throughout Tarrant County, with two more opening in the next month.

Stonegate is the third school in the H-E-B district to get an oasis, joining Bellaire Elementary in Hurst and Bell Manor in Bedford.

“It is just a great opportunity for us. We feel honored that we were selected,” said Stonegate Principal Gena Jackson.

The center has spacious bookshelves, comfortable chairs and a listening station where children can listen to audiobooks on CDs.

Jackson said the school is using the oasis for its reading buddies program where sixth-graders work with kindergartners on reading.

H-E-B schools also have a program called DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) where students can sign up to spend time in the oasis.

Jackson said she also plans on having parents and volunteers from the community spend time reading children.

The oasis at Stonegate was underwritten by Brackett & Ellis, Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson and the H-E-B ISD Education Foundation.

Emily Furney, corporate relations manager for United Way of Tarrant County, said it costs $10,000 to establish an oasis.

The students also get a one-year membership to the educational website Club Connect, where children can download e-books, listen to celebrity readings and play math- and literacy-based games, Furney said.

The site is designed to promote literacy and learning, especially during the summer and other times when kids are out of school.

The Reading Oasis program is a partnership between United Way, Scholastic and the National Association of Elementary School Principals. Scholastic selects the books, and each oasis has the same materials that appeal to children in pre-K through sixth grade.

Bell Manor Principal Patti Bearden said the oasis has helped children and their parents spend quality time together. This year, the library is open after school so that parents can come in and check out books while their children read or listen to an audiobook.

“I think this is helping children develop a love for reading,” Bearden said.

Faye Baulieu, who serves on the H-E-B school board and who works for the United Way of Northeast Tarrant County, said the program is a helpful tool.

“The whole point is to say that reading is enjoyable and fun,” Baulieu said. “Reading is so fundamental to what every student does. If you don’t have the reading right, then you are going to have problems with everything else.”

This story was originally published September 12, 2016 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Bedford school gets center to promote reading."