If achieving success could be winnowed down to one ability, that one ability most certainly would be reading.
Ready Readers, a local non-profit, has as its mission to inspire preschool children from low-income communities to become readers. This is accomplished by reading aloud to them, increasing their exposure to quality books, and providing them with literary experiences.
St. Louisan Pat Simons founded Ready Readers in 1997 to excite preschool children about the world of books. Simons, a former high school English teacher and retired attorney, knew literacy was important in a child's education and development, according to Volunteer Program Director Diane Sinclair.
"She approached the St. Louis Public Schools and talked to teachers," Sinclair said. "They said that the children coming to kindergarten didn't know their colors, letters or even how to turn pages in books."
From a small classroom, Ready Readers has grown to 600 classrooms in 172 schools serving 10,000 children. The program targets children ages 2 to 5 years, 70 percent of whom are at or below the Head Start poverty level.
Volunteers arrive at schools once a week and read for a half hour. The same volunteer comes each week so as to create a bond between the reader and child.
"They bring wonderful books and, in addition to all the great literature they're exposing the children to, it's all the wonderful language and music that goes with the books," Sinclair said.
"We know the key to success is literacy," she said. "Studies have shown that by the third grade, children's literacy scores will actually determine whether or not they will graduate from high school."
During the school year, the volunteer gives each child six books to take home (seven if the school is year round).
"Each book is personalized with the child's name," Sinclair said. "If the child started at age 2, by the time they are ready for kindergarten they have acquired a good library. Typically, children from low-income families only have four books their whole childhood.
"Volunteers ask questions, answer the children's questions, get them engaged to participate, maybe singing a song that goes along with the book or an activity that brings the book to life," she said.
"On a snow day, a volunteer read a book about snow, brought in a cup of snow. She told the children, 'we're going to sit here and watch the snow melt,'" she said.
Webster Groves resident and Ready Readers past president Linda Finerty has been a Ready Reader for 12 years, the last four of which she has spent at Baby Steps Academy 1 in Maplewood.
"I love it and get as much out of it as the kids do," she said. "The children like anything that rhymes or goes back and repeats words throughout the book, like 'huff and puff blow your house down,'" Finerty said. "They don't like books that are too wordy or too long, so we keep the books short.
"We encourage the children to have someone read to them at home," she said.
Diversity also enters into the reading program.
"One of the favorites is 'The Little Engine That Could.' In the book, dolls are described as 'beautiful with yellow hair and blue eyes,' and the clown as 'cute with red hair,' so I leave out the adjectives," Finerty said.
"When a child enters kindergarten without knowing colors, letters or how to turn pages in a book, he or she will act out, and is usually labeled 'trouble maker,'" she said.
Attorney Matt Leppert of Crestwood said he was hooked on Ready Readers when one of his partners invited him along to his class.
"The moment I saw him read to these kids, I was transported back to my childhood where my librarian would read to us," he said.
Leppert has been board president since 2015, and reads at Jefferson Public School.
"These children deal with conditions that many of us haven't grown up with, like the toxic stress of poverty, hunger and the basic needs that we take for granted," Leppert said. "Literacy is one of the keys to helping children break out of this cycle. When I see in their faces the awe and joy, and the fascination of reading that unlocks their spirit, their imagination, their desire for understanding, I know that I'm contributing to ignite that spark.
"This allows them to understand that they are important, and they have everything they need right there in their own hands and all they have to do is read a book and pass on that knowledge to help them avoid a path that may be a cycle of their family and community and if I can help them break out of that cycle, I feel it's my moral obligation to do that," he said.
Leppert sometimes brings his 3-year-old daughter, Caroline, to the class.
"I want her to understand that we are all part of a community, not just Crestwood, Kirkwood, Affton or Ferguson," he said. "These are all our neighbors and part of our larger community. The more we can do for each other, the better lives we will all have."
The program has 50 schools on its waiting list, and even with 500 volunteers more are needed.
"The kids love their Ready Readers," she said. "If you want to be treated like a rock star, be a Ready Reader."
For more information on Ready Readers, go to www.readyreaders.org. Those interested in volunteering can either fill out an application online, contact Sinclair at diane@readyreaders.org or call 314-825-8751.