Valley students inspire peers to get excited about reading

PHOENIX — Something special is happening at Amberlea Elementary School in the West Valley.

That's where upperclassmen in this K-8 Title I school are helping much younger students get excited about reading.

ABC15 talked with an eighth-grader named Jocelyn Cedillo.

"Books are like a way to find an escape from the real world or to express your emotions sometimes. But other times, to me books are like, a way to read how people are."

Cedillo is a model student at Amberlea Elementary.

She is also a cheerleader and among a select few chosen to be on the Superintendent's Student Council in the Pendergast Elementary School District telling ABC15, "it's for the whole district. They pick two kids per school to help out on events and fundraise."

In addition to participating in leadership activities, Cedillo spends time helping readers half her age in the school's 'Read Better Be Better' program. It’s a way to connect young readers and youth leaders to inspire a love of literacy and learning.

"When I read to them, sometimes they're not paying attention. But when they are and they actually understand it's like, you have like a little spark that you see in their eyes," Cedillo says.

Studies show children who don't read at grade level by the end of third grade are 13 times less likely to graduate compared to their peers.

Cedillo shares, "Seeing them feel important, and finding out that they could actually catch up with their grade level, knowing that they feel smarter, and, like, better, and embracing that is...amazing."

This is among many reasons why ABC15 and the Scripps Howard Foundation are partnering with Amberlea Elementary School for this year's "If You Give a Child a Book" campaign.

The school's principal, Marisa Barrio says, "We really want to just say how much these books would mean to our students, again, being in households that don't necessarily have books for the students just to go and read."

Barrio also tells ABC15 that donations from the public will help her students get books they can be proud of and something they can call their very own.

"It's a book that's actually theirs so they don't have to check it out from the library. They get to keep it, they get to read it to their younger siblings. They also get to pass it on to their younger siblings. It's something that stays with them."

To donate, text ABC15 all one word to 50155 or go to ABC15.com/giveabook.