Young readers a bright spot for Redlands’ Boys & Girls Club

Kevin Ponce said he raised his grade-point average from “one-point-something” to a 3.5. The senior at Orangewood High School in Redlands has also been preparing for the California High School Exit Examination, which he must pass to earn his diploma.

A key tool behind those accomplishments? Kevin participated in Bright Spot for Reading, a summer literacy program through the Boys & Girls Club of Redlands. The program helps a range of ages, from youngsters developing the foundations of literacy to teens who need help with the SAT and college prep.

Without Bright Spot, Redlands East Valley High School senior China Phillips said, “I wouldn’t know what to do. I wouldn’t know how to look for scholarships, what websites to go to.”

China hopes to become a registered nurse and said the Boys & Girls Club has kept her positive and on track to achieve her goals. In turn, China works with younger students as a tutor and mentor and also participates in a teen community service program designed to develop leadership skills.

For younger kids, the goals of Bright Spot are a bit different. They practice their ABCs and work up to reading comprehension.

It’s not enough for children to be able to read a sentence, said Kelsie McGee, a youth development specialist at the Redlands club. They need to comprehend what that sentence means.

The message to kids: “That’s great you can read it,” she said, “and you need to know how to read things. But in going on to high school, going on to college and then future careers, you have to be able to understand it.”

Third-grader Donny DeRiso participated in Bright Spot through Boys & Girls Club in nearby Mentone.

His helper, Madison Mell, said Donny thrived when given the opportunity to work on his reading one-on-one. At first, Mell coaxed him to read with the promise of LeapFrog educational games if he finished a page, but eventually reading itself became the reward.

“He would finish his homework early and be like, ‘Miss Madison, can I read you a book?’” Mell said. “I think a lot of it had to do with confidence in himself too. Once he knew he could read really well, then he was more proud of himself.”

The Bright Spot program tries to keep reading skills fresh during summer, when kids otherwise might stop working closely with tutors and when they have more time on their hands. Eventually, teachers and helpers hope, the kids will use that time for reading.

Said McGee: “To see kids enjoy reading and doing it on their free time is probably the greatest thing that I’ve seen.”

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samantha.zuba@latimes.com