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Employees from Praxair will visit second-grade classrooms at the Danbury school once a month to read with students, who will get to keep the books they read each month.
“Once they have these books, they are going to keep it and read it again and again,” said Principal David Krafick.
Praxair is an industrial gas company headquartered in Danbury. The Scholastic program, called REAL: Read, Excel, Achieve, Lead, is part of the Adopt-A-School Program launched by the school district two years ago. Officials said they hope the program will help close the reading gap seen in lower socioeconomic demographic groups, who often don’t have access to many books.
“It’s not just about having the resources, it’s about having the time too,” Superintendent Sal Pascarella said, explaining that many working parents don’t always have time to read with their children. “This really gives them an added benefit.”
Krafick said the socioeconomic disadvantages are compounded with a large population – more than 50 percent of students – of English Language Learner students at the school.
Praxair has a history of giving back to Danbury and schools around the world, said Judy Coco, a reading volunteer and head of employee activities council at Praxair. The company also sponsors a mentor program in the school district and plans to launch a junior achievement program this spring, Coco said. For one Praxair volunteer, the halls of Park Avenue School are a familiar sight.
“I went to school here so I was the first to respond,” said Keith Chapman. “I always said that was the best time of my life in elementary school.”
If all goes well with the program, it could expand to other grades within the schools, Coco said.
“It’s a pilot,” she said. “We’ll all have to be open-minded and evaluate it. We have to say ‘did we make a difference?’ and in my heart, I know we will.”
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