By Melissa Converse 

As a student coordinator for Rx for Reading, I’ve had the immense privilege to read weekly to the preschoolers at United Children and Family Head Start Harper/Gratiot for the past 3 months. It took very little time for the children to come to expect “Ms. Converse” every Wednesday afternoon and to have a book put in their hands for them to keep. Seventy-two 4- and 5-year-old preschoolers are now growing their very own libraries at home, thanks to Rx for Reading. That equates to over 1000 new books in the hands of Detroit’s youngest future leaders since September of this year! By the end of the school year, these children will have 30 books to call their very own – something to treasure, grow with, share with, and fall in love with over and over again. (To be a part of this has changed my world, as well, in no small way.) 

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. 
If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” – Albert Einstein 

This past Wednesday was “Pajama Day” for the students and teachers of UCFHS… and so, of course, I participated as well. The children were beyond excited to show off their “Paw Patrol”, “Frozen”, and unicorn themed ‘fits. (Personally, I think PJ Day should be every day, especially when there is story time involved.) The book I chose to read was one I loved reading with my own boys when they were young, Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner. The book was a huge hit as they wanted to discuss nearly every page and the new adventures had by the snowmen. To see them interact with the stories and want to discuss them, turning on that critical thinking mind at this young age is inspirational!  

Elizabeth Carpenter, a long-time teacher at UCFHS, spoke with me about the impact of Rx for Reading and the positive effect books and story time are having on her students. She lit up when describing how the children’s “love for books and all of the characters, animals, different cultures has exploded” and went on to say that regular feedback from guardians is that the children are now consistently asking to be read to at home. Carpenter agrees that this is about more than books when the entire family is bonding together. “I love their love for books!”, Carpenter emoted with a warm smile. She then shared about a non-verbal-autistic student at UCFHS. This student now understands what it means to have books of her own and since getting one to keep from Rx for Reading every Wednesday, has now started trying to take the classroom books home daily, to which Carpenter reminds her, “we have to wait for Ms. Converse on Wednesday – then you can take a book home.”

All of the students are interacting with books in ways that Carpenter has not seen before due to regular reading and being entrusted with their own library. And the teachers are using the books to inspire lessons from as well. Most recently, they used The Shape of Home by Rashin Kheiriyeh as the springboard for their shapes lesson and activity with construction paper and glue – staples of arts and crafts in preschool. Rx for Reading, through the generosity of donors valuing the education of our children, is making an impact that will be felt for generations to come in Detroit.  

Melissa Converse is finishing up her Bachelor of Arts in English while minoring in Literature and Museum Studies. She has writing and teaching aspirations, as well as the desire to continue her post-graduate education in Creative Writing.