When not being taught in class, some University students take time out of their days to pass on their knowledge to children in the Hub City.
At the Eric B. Chandler Health Center in New Brunswick, University students involved in Reach Out and Read dedicate their time to teach children how to read. Many of the children are first generation American citizens in homes where English is not spoken, said ROAR President Jennifer Luo.
The program mostly works with elementary to middle school students in an effort teach literacy skills to younger generations.
Students volunteer their time with ROAR, by spending at least 15 hours a semester helping out children at the Chandler Health Center.
"I just wanted to get more involved in early childhood education and to get more involved in the community organizations at Rutgers," said Cheryl Henry, a first-year student majoring in education.
For some students, such as Rutgers College sophomore Stephany Garcia, the volunteering comes with a personal touch.
"I like to take care of little children especially because most of the children here are Hispanic and that's my background," Garcia said.
ROAR was first started in 1989 in Boston Medical Center as a non-profit literacy organization, promoting reading programs for young children. The goal was to prepare children for the beginning of their school education by giving them a previous experience in learning English.
Since its creation, the organization has grown and now has over 3,200 programs in the nation. So far it has distributed up to 4.6 million books to 2.8 million children, according to the ROAR Web site.
Locally, books are donated to the organization by the New Brunswick Public Library and Middlesex County Library. Books donated to the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital are passed along to ROAR.
Physicians at the health center then distribute the books to the children, where ROAR volunteers spend time with the children and teach them to read through reading the books together, Luo said.
Volunteers also engage children in other activities such as face painting or designing decorations.
Throughout the college year, ROAR organizes various themed events for the children including a Halloween theme where Rutgers students dress up and read Halloween books. In the spring, ROAR will have a Dr. Seuss's birthday event for National Read Across America week, Luo said.
"I've always worked well with little kids so I figured I would give it a try since its volunteer and I felt in my free time it was something worthwhile to do," said Robert Yu, a Rutgers College sophomore and publicity chair of ROAR.
This year, ROAR is hoping to extend out to the parents as well. They are planning to have a workshop for the parents in order to make them involved in the learning process as well by teaching reading techniques and getting them involved in their child's schoolwork.
"I'd say that being involved in Reach Out and Read and seeing them promoting literacy was something that I felt was meaningful to get involved in," Luo said.
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