Tiffany Asher, [email protected]
ROCK SPRINGS, WYOMING — Today, Rock Springs Junior High students headed down to Overland Head Start to read to the little kids in school. Amie Kinyon B.S. Ed, Reading Interventionist for Rock Springs Junior High explained that this is a new program she’s been trying to start for her students.
Kinyon stated, “I wanted to create this program that would be passed down throughout the years and this is kind of like a trial, but we want to make bonds and partnerships.” She explained that in elementary school, older students within the school would read to the younger ones. “It gives them a lot of intrinsic motivations and rewards. It likes an internal reward. Reading is influential and is a good and nice thing to share this information with a younger generation.”
Kinyon hopes that this program will spark interest between her 7th and 8th-grade students with younger students. “There is a purpose and a value in reading. This can be something that can be shared with all ages.” She is planning on 8-12 visits or more throughout the school year. After each reading, the junior high students will be reflexing on the sessions and see how they can improve, whether it has to do with engagement, length of books, or anything else to help them improve their goals.
Kinyon aids students that are struggling, or need a little bump to improve their reading and language art skills. She teaches a smaller group and is a little more hands-on with relationship-building to boost proficiency.
“Reading is part of life, it’s part of growth. I want them to get the love of reading back from when they were kids.”
