COE Students Hope to Help Break Guinness World Record for Literacy - University of Houston
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COE Students Hope to Help Break Guinness World Record for Literacy

College of Education StudentsStudents and alumni from the UH College of Education volunteered to read to the children at Marcellus Elliot Foster Elementary School as part of  Read Across the Globe, an initiative that brings the power of volunteers together to impact literacy in your community.

The students were volunteering to attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the number of children read to within a 24-hour period. Working with volunteers, educators, and partners in every time zone, they read to children around the globe to shine a light on literacy.

The experience was challenging and rewarding for UH COE Teaching & Learning students who are studying to become teachers.  One of the biggest challenges was to engage students while reading the same book, Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table, to several different grade levels.

Janie BaillietJanie Bailliet had the pleasure of reading to kindergarten students.  “I came because I hope to be a teacher one day and I believe reading is the core of education,” she said.  “The students were kind and engaged in the story.  It made my heart happy to see their reactions.”



Lissett IbarraLissett Ibarra had the challenge of making reading fun for fourth graders.  “I like reading to children and it’s fun,” she said.  “I had fourth grade and didn’t think that age would be very interested.  I was surprised by their engagement and their enthusiasm.”



Zeina MoubayedZeina Moubayed’s first graders hung on to every word. “I want to inspire kids to read, learn, and be open-minded.  I want them to have fun reading,” she said. “The students were very attentive.  They participated and asked excellent questions.  One student didn’t want us to leave!”




Cordelia MeanorDr. Cordelia Meanor, an alumna who graduated from COE in 1979 with a Doctorate in Education Administration read to a Pre-kindergarten class. “This program offers a chance for individuals to become familiar with the school to where they may either become future educators or at least volunteers in their area schools,” she said “The kids were phenomenal.  They were engaged, attentive, and very happy we were there.”

Representatives from HISD who organized the event spoke to the students about the importance of volunteering and how to get involved in more literacy programs like TutorMate which is designed to have a volunteer work one-on-one with a child who needs help with reading.

Cindy Puryear, who is the Director of Elementary Literacy for HISD had this to say about the potential Guinness World Record: “There are schools all over the world participating in Read Across the Globe.  The idea is for the volunteers to become involved in the community and involved in the education of our children in HISD.”

Carley Colton, Instructional Specialist in the Literacy Department with HISD, stressed the importance of reading programs and volunteerism. “One of our main goals is to create partnerships across the community through our Read Houston Read program, a volunteer effort designed to interest volunteers to read with a first grader at least thirty minutes one day a week”.

Andrea Burridge, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies in the College of Education, is always quick to assist with literacy volunteer events.  “Foundations of education begin in early childhood.  The more we can do to assist our communities in forming those foundations is a huge part of the mission behind our college.”

Arial RoyCOE student Ariel Roy summed up the day perfectly!  “This is a great program to help children in the classroom, influence them, and encourage them to read.  Also it’s a great program to help them become active readers.”

Read more about Connect 4 Literacy and Read Across the Globe.  Results of the Read Across the Globe Guinness World Record have not been released as of this publication.