The power of reading

After serving for over 20 years in education, Karen Day, Arkansas Dream Center after school coach, was ready to retire. A season she thought was coming to an end turned into a new opportunity to serve students. 

Her career in early-childhood education began during her student teaching in North Little Rock. While observing one of the teachers at the school, Day’s future was deeply impacted. Although she cannot remember the name of the teacher, what she does remember is the meaningful relationships the teacher built with each of her students. 

“When I was doing my student teaching, I had the privilege of doing it at Seventh Street Elementary School. There was a kindergarten teacher there who influenced me. I watched her as she met each child’s needs: body; soul and spirit. Before students left for the weekend, she would stuff their backpacks full of food so they would be fed,” Day reflected. “She would do this with her own money and through a partnership with a local food bank. Not only did she take care of her class, but she also fed students who were from past classes and came back hungry. I remember watching her and thinking “That’s who I want to be.” She loved children and had built strong relationships with them that they kept coming back to her because she would meet their needs.” 

Day knew she wanted to continue teaching in inner city schools because she saw the influence a teacher had on the lives of students experiencing physical and emotional poverty. 

The last 10 years of Day’s career were spent at Martin Luther King Elementary School in Little Rock. It was here that she learned about the work of the Dream Center. 

“I remember the first year that I was at Martin Luther King Elementary, I watched the Dream Center come into the school and care for their kids. They were asking about specific kids and it hit a chord with me. I was so intrigued by the relationships the Dream Center had built with my students- it was so powerful in my classroom,” Day said. 

Mrs. Karen at the Dream Center’s summer programming.

A week after retiring, Day was ready to be in the classroom again and became a Dream Center after school coach. She was back to serving kids and fostering educational enrichment. 

From her time teaching and writing curriculum for elementary students, Day brings her expertise and knowledge to the Dream Center as she oversees educational enrichment. Day knows the importance of reading proficiently and the role it plays in lifting kids out of poverty. 

“Reading opens up a whole new world. There’s different places and different genres that you can get into and read. All of a sudden, you can be transported to outer space or China to fight off dragons. It’s really phenomenal what the power of being able to read books does for children,” Day said. 

A stat released by Reading Partners says 82% of kids qualified for free and reduced lunch are not reading proficiently. When one comes alongside kids living in poverty, they can lift them up by empowering them to conquer their educational goals so they can break the generational poverty cycle. 

A volunteer at the Dream Center’s after school programs reads to a child.

Reading impacts a child's life because today’s world is dependent on literacy. In order to have a job, one must be able to read. Whether it’s working at a fast food restaurant or a financial institution, reading matters. 

“We live in a literate world where in every job there is a written component you have to be able decode. To know how to decode sounds into words, and words into sentences is so important,” Day said. “This comes into play when reading a simple text message or a schedule for work. In every field there is a written component that goes with it.”  

For Day, working at the Dream Center is an opportunity to see kids chase their dreams by impacting their sphere of influence.

“Being a school teacher is a 24/7  job. You don’t ever leave your kids, you are always thinking about them. You only get your kids for one year and then they leave.  Every May you have the most horrible break up and you send them to the next grade,” Day reflected. “The biggest impact this job has had on me is that the kids who I had I get to see again and work with them. To be here and love on these kids at a different age and see they’ve held onto the one year that I poured into them, that for me has been the biggest blessing and impact.” 

In 17 neighborhoods throughout Central Arkansas, the Dream Center offers after school programs to provide educational enrichment and feeding programs for kids. For more information on these programs and volunteer opportunities, visit everyarkansan.org/ardc to learn more.