Jewish Group Leads Reading Campaign : Literacy: Volunteers from Koreh L.A. will be assisting schoolchildren for one hour each week at 30 L.A. Unified schools.

Seeking to address a conspicuous stumbling block among schoolchildren, Los Angeles Jewish leaders Wednesday unveiled a campaign to assist hundreds of struggling readers at area elementary schools.

About 350 volunteers will spend one hour each week over the next school year reading side by side with children at 30 campuses in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Koreh L.A., named for the Hebrew word meaning “read,” is the largest volunteer undertaking by Los Angeles Jewish organizations in several years.

“We will no longer accept the scandal of illiteracy in our community,” Deborah Kattler Kupetz, the program’s chairwoman, said during a news conference at the downtown Central Library. “As Jews, we are part of this Los Angeles community, and we are committed to that entire community.”

The announcement of Koreh L.A. came during the first week of school and just days before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, the program’s sponsor, is mounting a recruiting drive this weekend as the High Holy Days get underway.

Rabbis are expected to promote the volunteer initiative in their sermons. Many synagogues will distribute fliers announcing the effort, which will begin at schools the first week of October.

Reading volunteers said the initiative for children in grades one to three comes at an apt time, when Jews are reflecting on their lives and ways in which they can improve the world around them.

“I believe that education is the key to rising out of cycles of poverty, and it starts with reading,” said Shari Rosenman, a reading volunteer who is an attorney and a mother of two.

“I certainly made sure my children were read to since their first days. If I can help other kids catch up in that process, hopefully they will be able to succeed further in mainstream society.”

The volunteers will work at 30 L.A. Unified schools affiliated with another organization, the Wonder of Reading. That group renovates libraries and trains reading tutors, including those from Koreh L.A.

The volunteers will not serve as teachers but rather as mentors who try to inspire a love of reading while helping children improve their skills by sounding out unfamiliar words and using other strategies. Students will be selected by their teachers.

The tutoring initiative faces a hefty challenge.

The most recent round of national tests found that 80% of California fourth-graders are not proficient readers. More than half of the state’s fourth-graders failed to even partially master fundamental skills.

California ranked second to last among 39 states in fourth-grade reading skills, according to the national assessment.

The problems are pronounced in urban school districts such as Los Angeles Unified, the nation’s second-largest school system and home to nearly 700,000 students.

Koreh L.A. is part of a nationwide effort by Jewish Federation agencies to address illiteracy. Similar tutoring programs have been established in more than a dozen other major cities, including Boston, Miami and Philadelphia.

The Los Angeles effort is run by the Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Committee. The effort has enlisted volunteers from a diverse collection of Jewish organizations and synagogues, known collectively as the Los Angeles Jewish Coalition for Literacy.

The coalition includes the Anti-Defamation League, the University of Judaism, Milken Community High School in the Sepulveda Pass and B’nai David-Judea Congregation, a modern Orthodox synagogue in the Pico-Robertson area.

A cast of Hollywood celebrities, studio executives, authors and other prominent Angelenos gathered at the Central Library on Wednesday to announce the Los Angeles initiative. Among the invited VIPs was Mayor Richard Riordan, who read Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham” to second-graders from a nearby elementary school.

“Remember, reading is your future,” Riordan told the children from Commonwealth Avenue Elementary.

Asked later whether he would be joining the volunteer program, Riordan said he wasn’t sure.

“I’d like to fit it in if I can, but it’s a busy schedule.”

Riordan and others at the event conducted a “read-in,” pairing up with children and reading books. Some sat on the carpeted floor of the children’s literature section. Others plopped into plush leather chairs or huddled quietly between bookshelves.

Actor Bob Saget read the children’s book “Miss Nelson Is Missing” to second-grader Victor Batres.

Victor piped in with his own commentary on reading.

“Sometimes, it’s really hard,” Victor said as he draped his arm around Saget’s shoulder.

“I know. A pain in the butt,” Saget responded. “But it will get fun. I promise.”