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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Kinsey Harris, a third-grader at Kistler Elementary School, read 20 books during her summer vacation even though she was required to read only 10. Harris was one of the participants in a new summer reading program sponsored by the United Way of Wyoming Valley and the Wilkes-Barre Area School District.</p><p>The purpose of the initiative is to keep students reading and to avoid the &#8220;summer slide&#8221; &#8212; a time when students slide backward on the learning curve due to not being in school for a long period of time.</p><p>&#8220;Children are at risk of losing some of the knowledge they have gained throughout the school year during the summertime if they don&#8217;t continue to stay engaged in learning activities and reading,&#8221; said the United Way&#8217;s Jennifer Deemer. The summer reading program was Deemer&#8217;s brainchild, and she said it&#8217;s all part of a larger campaign focused on grade-level reading for young students.</p><p>One of the main goals is to ensure that students are reading at grade level by the end of third grade.&#8220;It&#8217;s really a critical time in a student&#8217;s career, because children up until grade three are learning how to read,&#8221; Deemer said. &#8220;They need to read to learn.&#8221;</p><p>The United Way also provided parents with educational materials containing ideas on how to keep children learning throughout the summer.</p><p>Seventy Kistler students in pre-kindergarten to fifth grade participated in the program and were treated to an ice cream party Tuesday hosted by the United Way.</p><p>&#8220;I think this a good reward for kids to read, because it encourages kids to read more, because they think that they are going to get something in return,&#8221; said third-grader Harris.</p><p>Margo Serafini, principal of Kistler, believes the program has made &#8220;a tremendous difference&#8221; in students&#8217; reading skills after starting school again in the fall. She definitely wants to continue the program in the future.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sure year after year this will grow, and I think this is a great turnout for the first year,&#8221; Serafini said.</p><p>Summer reading proved to be beneficial for younger students who are just starting school for the first time as well. Several of Lauren Medvec&#8217;s pre-kindergarten students reaped the benefits. &#8220;It exposes them to having somebody at home read to them especially before they&#8217;re going to school,&#8221;she said.</p><p>Given the success of the summer reading initiative at Kistler, Deemer said the United Way may expand it to other schools.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Pre-kindergarten students Ari and Mason fix their own ice cream sundaes at Kistler Elementary School in Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday. The United Way of Wyoming Valley hosted an ice cream party for the students to reward them for their success in a new reading program. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_TTL101117ice-cream2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Pre-kindergarten students Ari and Mason fix their own ice cream sundaes at Kistler Elementary School in Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday. The United Way of Wyoming Valley hosted an ice cream party for the students to reward them for their success in a new reading program. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader  </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Kulsoom Khan</p><p>kkhan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

United Way rewards Kistler Elementary kids for summer reading success