November 3, 2010

Catholic school’s book club for boys a rousing success

By John Gleason

Boys in middle school like to read—don’t they?  Well, statistics show that compared to girls, reading books (especially for enjoyment) isn’t always the first choice when it comes to male youths.

In fact, in their book “Reading Don’t Fix No Chevy’s,” academics Michael Smith (Temple University) and Jeffrey Wilhelm (Boise State University) made an intensive study of the literacy lives of young boys and came away with several observations: Boys take longer to learn to read than girls do; boys read less than girls read; and boys have much less interest in leisure reading and are far less likely to read for pleasure than girls are. But even if there are statistics to back those observations up, don’t tell that to the 31 members of the Unimagined Group, a reading club made up of sixth, seventh and eighth-grade boys from St. Rose of Lima School in Denver.

Now in its third year, the Unimagined Group is an extra-curricular club that meets every Thursday morning before school from 7:30 to 8 a.m. to talk about the book they’re reading, debate the strong and weak points of the plot and decide which book they want to read next.  Faculty monitor Tate Hallahan told the Denver Catholic Register he oversees the group, but the students run the show themselves.

“They begin with a prayer then move on to discussion and sometimes it really gets exciting,” he said.  “They even have plans to develop a website to post their opinions and rate the books they read.  This way, students from other schools can go and see what the books are all about.”

Hallahan said the group began slowly in 2008 with three members. 

“Those who began the group, of course, liked to read,” he said. “Then I knew we had to include young men who didn’t enjoy it so much.  Our three founders were positive influences—more and more students wanted to join and this year we have more than 10-times the original number.”

The first book the students read was “The Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan.  As the story was being made into a movie, the group decided to attend as a sort of informal field trip.  Afterward, Hallahan said, the discussion on the movie was very short.

“They all thought the book was better,” he said.

The name, Unimagined Group, comes from another of the books the students read.  One of the founding members and current president, 13-year-old Ronny Lucero, said it’s the discussion about the books that makes him want to read even more.

“You don’t just read, you talk about it,” he said. “And it’s like reading it again—it makes it more real.”
Lucero said that even though he always liked to read—he’s a big science fiction fan—being part of the club has helped with his school work, too.

“I was one of those students who sometimes missed assignments—not a good idea,” he said.  “But that doesn’t happen anymore.  I think reading more makes me appreciate my school work more.”

The last book the students read was “Awakenings” by Colorado author Claudia Cangilla McAdam.  It’s the story of a 21st-century teenage girl who gets transported back to Jerusalem the week before Jesus is put to death.  Last week, McAdam went to St. Rose to talk about the historical aspects of the book, bringing along a PowerPoint presentation to show the boys what Jerusalem looked like 2,000 years ago.

“I showed a map of the city,” McAdam told the Register, “along with other photographs of the area and everyday items the people use.  In the story, my character goes to a house where they have an olive press.  I showed the students what an olive press is and its purpose.  It reinforces what they read about in the story.”

McAdam showed the class photos of the Garden of Gethsemane and of steps that led up to the house of Caiaphas where Jesus was taken following his arrest.

“We don’t have many places where Jesus went that are still in existence,” she told the students, indicating the photo of the steps. “This is one of them.  It can give you a chill to know (Christ) actually stood on this spot, and it doesn’t look that different today than it did in his time.”

Sixth-grader Juan Silva is in his first year as a member of Unimagined Group.  He told the Register one of the reasons he likes being a part of the club is how much he learns about each story after he’s done reading it.

“We heard Mrs. McAdam talk about writing a character in the time of Jesus,” he said. “It’s cool how she did that, taking a Bible story we all know and making up another one around it and then connecting the two.  It’s like learning it for the first time.  This is why everyone should have a club like this.”

More information on “Awak-ening” or other books by Claudia McAdam can be found online at www.ClaudiaMcAdam.com.