Getting kids to read and love books

How many ways can you get a child into the habit of reading and loving books? For one, you can start by holding a parade. At the recent launch of the Sa Aklat Sisikat (SAS) reading program in Malolos, Bulacan, the JFC (Jollibee Foods Corporation) mascots Jollibee and Hetty led the motorcade around the provincial capitol and park together with balloons and streamers-carrying public elementary school students from all of the 30 districts of Bulacan. Inside the provincial gym where the teachers and students gathered, two fun stations were set up – Face Painting and Kiddie Salon, where the girls had their hair brushed and braided while both boys and girls had their faces painted with stars, balloons, and other fun figures. It was almost like a school fair, complete with refreshments, juices in foil packs and burgers for everyone. Young guest artist Cris Villonco sang the catchy SAS theme song with its memorable line "bawat libro ay aking kaibigain." And so it was with this festive mood that the SAS reading program in Bulacan was launched.

The heart of the SAS reading program is the "Read-a-thon," a month-long marathon reading activity held among grade four students in all the public schools.

Brand-new children’s storybooks are distributed in all the classrooms, 60 titles per section. The challenge is for all the students to read all the 60 titles within the next 31 days. "Research studies have shown that anything you do at least 21 times becomes a habit," Margaret Barro, SAS executive director, explains. "We added the extra 10 days just to be sure." And why grade four students in particular?

"Education experts have determined that while children start learning how to read at grade one, the process of real understanding and comprehension starts at grade four," says Inez Reyes, vice president for marketing of Jollibee, a partner of SAS in this undertaking.

"About four years ago, two booklovers, Margarita Delgado and Lizzie Zobel, dared to dream to build a nation of readers," Neni Sta. Romana Cruz, SAS trustee and award-wining author of children’s books, relates. "Convinced that children can only succeed through reading and that literacy is all about creating a desire to read and putting a book in every child’s hand, Sa Aklat Sisikat was born."

The SAS reading program was first implemented in Manila and had since been replicated in Marikina, Nasugbu, Batangas, Muntinlupa, and San Fernando, Pampanga. "SAS has spread the love and habit of reading among more than 40,000 public elementary school children," Neni reports. "We just love books and we feel every child should experience this joy."

Neni relates that the first time the children got their brand-new storybooks, they smelled it. "They could not believe that there were books like these. They only had their text books which are on newsprint and which do not have any color." Instead of getting stuck with an indiscriminate collection of second-hand book donations, the books on the SAS booklist are carefully selected by experts based on their readability, literary value, as well as their inclusion of Filipino family values. These are locally published children’s books such as Papel de Liha by Ompong Remigio, which talks about the selfless role of a mother. "A favorite among the children is Remigio’s Bruhaha, Bruhihi, a funny story about a serious topic," Neni relates. "The story is about the sad life of an old woman and how a child accepted her strangeness. Xilef by Augie Rivera is about a young boy, Felix, who is coping with dyslexia. The stories are not long and are easy to read.

For every book that a student reads, he gets to add a feather to an Ibong Adarna mural in the classroom. Each child gets 60 feathers. Each child is also given a reading passport. These are the fun ways by which the children are able to keep track of the number of books that they’ve read. "The children are free to choose which books they’d like to read and to decide what they will write about. Not all the books read have to have a book report. It’s very simple. They just have to note down the title, the author, and how the story struck them. We encourage the kids to respond to the book," Neni explains.

"We realize how important the role of the teacher is in this undertaking," Inez observes. "The program can be very good but if the teachers do not support it, it will go nowhere. SAS has a training program for teachers, which is quite intensive, and they get to earn credits which serve as a good incentive for them to participate and implement the program."

"It started as an International School (IS) initiative," says Neni, who is also an IS teacher and in charge of the SAS teacher-training program. "The original trainers were IS teachers who were familiar with the reading program which we already had in our school. Then we had trainers from other private schools such as St. Scholastica and Ateneo. The teacher-training program has since rippled down and the teachers who underwent training such as those from Muntinlupa and Nasugbu are now also trainers. We want this to be a continuing program which the teachers will sustain even after we’ve moved on to another location."

"We work closely with school authorities, in collaboration with the Department of Education (DepEd), as well as the local government units in the implementation of the reading program," says Margaret Barros of SAS. "We do intensive research and look at the local administration’s track record. It is important for us that education is a priority. In the case of Bulacan, we did not need much convincing."

"There was no question in our minds that it was logical to have a partnership with the local government of Bulacan, knowing the dynamism and enthusiasm of its governor, Josie de la Cruz," Neni confirms. "Her admirable record speaks of integrity and honesty, and most important of all, she has education as one of her administration’s highest priorities. She was not content that initially, our generous corporate partners would be able to support the SAS program in only 20 of Bulacan’s 30 districts. She felt that all 30 districts need to be represented and she made that happen."

"It would have been difficult to explain why 10 districts had to be left out," the young governor explains. Even before the partnership with the SAS reading program, Gov. de la Cruz already had an ongoing project for schoolchildren, grades one to three, with the Ford Foundation which has been extending its help to improve English reading proficiency in the country. The governor comes from a family of educators, and as mother of two young kids – JP, 7 years old, and Pepe, 8 years old˜– she fully appreciates the benefits of teaching kids to love and get into the habit of reading. Education and health, these are her priorities. "I would like to have healthy, thinking Bulakenos," she says.

"We fully support this worthy cause. With our partnership with the Sa Aklat Sisikat reading program, Jollibee developed the slogan ‘Jollibee kids read’," Inez says. "We are a Filipino family brand and kids are truly our primary market. We are concerned about child empowerment. We are very concerned about what will happen to the future of our children."

A related Jollibee project tie-up with the DepEd is the promotion of Filipino values among schoolchildren, grades one and two. "The children are taught Filipino values such as respect, honesty, integrity, frugality, and excellence," Inez explains. "This is who we are. This is our legacy to the country. After 25 years, this is our way of giving back to the community."