Letter: Belittling of literacy group unbecoming

Monday, Aug. 21, 2006 | 7:20 a.m.

The primaries are over, yet the feeling that the APPLE (All People Promoting Literacy Efforts) Partnership literacy program was maligned remains.

As part of APPLE'S executive committee, I must defend our efforts to promote literacy. During Sen. Dina Titus' Democratic primary debate with Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson on "Face to Face With Jon Ralston," she referred derisively to the "little" APPLE literacy program the mayor established within his community. This disparaged the efforts of a lot of community volunteers.

APPLE is a public-private partnership effort to increase literacy in our community. The first annual reading event was a forum with author R.L. Stine of "Goosebumps" fame that packed the Henderson Pavilion. He spent time with students, talking about the art of writing and encouraging kids to write. The Web site Applepartnership.com, among other things, provides tips to help children read.

In the two years that APPLE has existed, the schools that logged the most reading hours received a new computer lab. Six lucky children received personal computers. The efforts of the city of Henderson, the Southeast region of the Clark County School District, teachers, administrators, parents and the business community make this program possible. People volunteered their time to help improve the literacy levels of our students starting in kindergarten.

I believe Sen. Titus cares about education. I like her idea of embracing teachers in a meaningful dialogue for improving our schools. I also believe that when people volunteer their time to make a positive contribution to their community, it is shortsighted to have our elected leaders ridicule our efforts.

It would be far more productive to encourage the spread of literacy in our community and our state.

Cathy Rosenfield, Henderson