Limousine rides motivate kids
to learn to read
By Tim Callahan
timcallahan01@aol.com
Celebrities, sports, designer and name brand clothes, expensive sneakers and video games are cool to most children.
Reading is apparently not cool. South Carolina having the third highest adult illiteracy rate in the country seems to bear witness.
But, what if celebrities said reading is cool and fun? What if limousine rides were used as an incentive? Would reading then become cool?
The answer is yes, the innovative non-profit Limousines for Learning is finding out through their success over five years.
During the past year, 15,600 third- and fourth- graders representing 69 elementary schools in seven counties participated in the Limos for Learning motivational program, including five elementary schools in Georgetown County: Andrews, McDonald's, Sampit, Browns Ferry and Pleasant Hill.
Working without standardized test scores, grades and book reading quotas, which often intimidate and frustrate children struggling with reading, the program is tailored to each child's needs. Teachers work with the students to come up with individual goals. Hard work and attitude are as important as talent. Children are rewarded as they reach benchmarks, culminating in Literacy Celebration Day, where the red carpet is rolled out at school and students selected for additional rewards are treated to a limo ride, special lunch and certificates of award.
Founder and president Betsy Ross, who is not paid, worked in the pharmacy industry for 20 years and it was in this job that she witnessed "the sobering social disease of adult illiteracy and its impact on healthcare." Without the reading skills necessary, patients could not be proactive in their healthcare, from filling out forms to learning about diseases.
As a parent volunteer in the Laurens County public school system, Ross also witnessed children's fear and disillusionment as they faced standardized tests, reading quotas and grading. Her daughter, Lindsey, now 26, was one of the students that struggled with motivation to read. She was more interested in science and math. Her mother helped motivate her and give her self-confidence. That is why she loves her mom's program and is a volunteer.
"If you give them motivation," Lindsey said, "they will get hooked."
Things turned out quite well for Lindsey as she is about to receive a doctor of pharmacy degree and is engaged.
Administrative assistant Elaine Lawson got hooked on Limos for Learning, she said, by attending a Literacy Celebration Day and seeing the joy in the children's faces.
The program provides motivational posters, books and videos. The "Can Do Duck" is a book about the "power of belief in self," Betsy said, "and a can do attitude." Olympian Devon Harris's book, "Yes I Can," is the inspirational story of the Jamaican bobsled team. Videos feature Harris, Hootie and the Blowfish, Access Hollywood's Nancy O'Dell, pro football player Brentson Buckner and model Mariana Verkerk all extolling the virtues of reading.
Ross said 92 cents out of every dollar goes to program services. With 100 volunteers, she only has one paid staff, she said.
Like any non-profit, fund-raising is necessary and essential for the program's survival. Ross said business partners are the programs biggest sponsors but any individual can also support Limos for Learning.
"Charity begins at home," Ross said, and supporting reading initiatives "will improve the economy by improving reading sufficiency." It will also help keep some children from entering the prison system as adults. She said reading proficiency is now being used as an indicator to project prison enrollment.
A program that started in 2003 with an idea by Ross and vice-president Carl Barker and one limousine, has blossomed into what Ross hopes will become a national program. It has already been recognized by the state of South Carolina on its Angels List as one of the top three exemplary charities. And, First Lady Laura Bush, Governor Mark Sanford and state senator Ray Cleary have all commented positively on the program.
For more information, or to support Limos for Learning, call 843-923-3179 or send a donation: to P.O. Box 921, Laurens, SC 29360. Or visit them online at www.LimosForLearning.org