EXCELLING, CONFIDENT AFTER A SLOW START
Arizona Republic
June 24, 2007
(Phoenix, AZ)Author: Karina Bland, The Arizona Republic Estimated printed pages: 2

The area near Creighton Elementary School in Phoenix is a first stop for immigrants coming from Mexico. They stay with family or friends and then, when they are able to afford to buy a home, they move.

Jackeline Rodriquez was one who got away, moving to west Phoenix at the end of first grade and taking her potentially good state test scores with her.
Now a third-grader at Sevilla Primary School in Phoenix, she's in a fourth-grade reading class.

In first grade at Creighton, Jackeline would gulp when asked to read aloud.
It was hard enough learning to read and in a second language, but Jackeline also was painfully shy.

She would read so quietly that her teacher, Beatriz Webb, would lean forward to hear her.

There's no sign of that shyness now.

In her reading class at Sevilla, Jackeline laughs out loud at the antics of the main character in Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days by Stephen Manes.

"I like reading because I like to know about what's in the books," the 9-year-old says.

Jackeline started third grade behind in reading, her reading teacher, Rhonda Anderson, says, but this kind of growth is not unusual with the school's Success for All program, which groups students by ability for reading instruction.

Jackeline does her homework religiously and reads for at least 20 minutes a day.

She sits at the kitchen table, where her mother can hear her read aloud.

Jackeline says it's good practice: "You can learn how to read better without getting stuck on words."

CAPTION: Jackeline Rodriquez left Creighton after first grade and now attends Sevilla Primary School. She started third grade behind in reading but is now in a fourth-grade reading class.
Edition: Final Chaser
Section: Front
Page: A19