Little Kids With Giant Potential

Did you know that reading proficiency by the third grade is the most important predictor of high school graduation and career success... or that 80% of children in Birmingham miss this crucial milestone EVERY YEAR?* Norman Dixon knows this well. Norman leads special projects for CSM including the S.T.A.I.R. program at Oliver Elementary and as a group leader for Kids Across America Camp (KAA).  The mission of S.T.A.I.R. is to improve the reading skills and self-esteem of second graders.* Norman has a great capacity for seeing the potential in a child's life and is passionate about the positive impact reading skills carries over from childhood into adult life. 
Noting that S.T.A.I.R. is an acronym for Start The Adventure in Reading, Norman says, “The most important thing is to start. Then advancement happens and the lightbulb goes off. We get so excited when we see that lightbulb go off! All of our kids that have come though have improved in reading, come up to grade level or above... some advancing three levels in a school year." One of the S.T.A.I.R. tutors told of a student struggling with sight words. The tutor began inserting verbal memorization exercises in each lesson, which began to strengthen the child’s confidence and set her on a new path to begin grasping the connections between spoken and written words.
S.T.A.I.R. volunteer tutors have a unique and meaningful opportunity to impact a child’s life and the freedom be creative one-on-one. Teachers and the principal from Oliver Elementary are excited about the improvements made in the overall student reading success, and parents are saying that kids are taking initiative with reading at home. Furthermore, all the kids have benefited from gaining new relationships with their tutors along with their improved reading skills. 
Norman is recruiting S.T.A.I.R. volunteers to commit to the 2016-2017 year starting this coming September at Oliver Elementary – tutoring reading to 2nd graders, one or two days a week. Since all the teachers at Oliver Elementary are female, and many of kids live in single parent homes, we are also helping to recruit for a new pilot program called Men In Action for kids with no positive male presence can visit with students during lunch at Oliver Elementary. If being a healthy and consistent male influence in the lives of our future leaders interests you, we would love to talk to you. If you are interested in learning more about either program, please call Norman Dixon at 205-482-5239 or email at ndixon4@att.net.  *http://stairbirmingham.org