COVENTRY -- The tradition of storytelling is one way to inspire a love of reading in children.
Using a few ideas from the Far East -- Magna, a Japanese-style comic book, and Kamishibia, storytelling flash cards -- Kayla Tucker had a winning formula for teaching children to appreciate books.
It earned the Coventry High School sophomore a $500 grant from the National Education Association to create literacy workshops. She was among 20 young people throughout the country to be awarded literacy grants, totaling $10,000, in March.
"I was very excited. It's a real accomplishment for me because it's a good cause to promote literacy and getting kids to read and enjoy reading," said Kayla, 15. "A lot of kids don't like to read. I want to show that the older kids like to read. Hopefully they [the younger ones] will follow the lead."
Since 2001, the NEA has offered such grants under its Youth Service America and Youth Leaders for Literacy programs.
Each winning project received $500 toward organizational costs and materials. Popularity spiked this year, with nearly 350 students vying for a grant, Staci Maiers said.
Kayla applied at the last minute, in November, after reading an article in The Providence Journal about NEA's Read Across America program.
Using the grant money, she, along with a few classmates and family and consumer science teacher Kathleen Hudson, organized seven literacy workshops that were presented at daycare centers and elementary schools over the last several weeks.
The workshops varied in approach and materials. They ranged from a simple book fair to using Japanese comic books as a way to pique young imaginations.
At one workshop, Kayla read a children's version of The March of the Penguins and then provided activities to teach about the life habits of the Antarctic creatures.
For a group of first graders, the students used Japanese flash cards called Kamishibai, On one side is an illustration, on the other related text read by the storyteller.
Flash cards are more efficient than illustrations in a book, which the storyteller would constantly have to show the listeners, said Hudson.
The workshops were loosely based on an Asian culture theme in part because of Hudson's experience as a Fulbright scholar in Japan.
Last night, Coventry High School hosted an Asian Fair, which promoted art projects including Raku pottery and Ikebana, a type of Japanese floral arrangement. A few of Kayla Tucker's classmates donned Magna character costumes in the spirit of promoting literacy.
For Kayla, who aspires to be an English teacher and writer, diversity is key component in getting children interested in reading.
She said she would apply again and envisions doing literacy projects that bring in themes drawn from other cultures, such as Italian, Indian or Spanish.
"It's not just about the American culture, but all cultures, and to have the experience and to show how they are different from us," Tucker said.