This program is no longer available.

For this program the Literacy Alliance works with a community center called the Midway Safe Harbor Center in Sanford that is jointly supported by the Seminole Public School, the Sheriffs Department, and the Board of County Commissioners. This facility provides a safe atmosphere where at-risk youths and teens, who attend Title I schools can learn and focus on education and personal goals for success.

In our puppet club, which we've named the Puppet Stars, middle and high school students are given the opportunity to develop and enhance their love of reading and convey this love to preschool and elementary school students while learning teamwork, leadership, and presentation skills. Meeting weekly, the students are given the skills and materials to present a 30-minute puppet show which includes scripted puppet shows, skits, magic and science tricks, and songs. This puppet show is presented to the elementary students in the Midway Safe Harbor Center. Following the puppet show, the students are partnered with younger students and they read together. A different puppet show is presented each semester.

Sharing the fun and energy of the puppet show, followed by one-on-one or small group readings, transforms the middle and high school students into reading mentors. They are looked up to by the younger students because of their enthusiasm and skill in the puppet show and because they have taken the time to sit quietly and share a book. This successful interaction between the teen puppeteers, reading and children is a priceless experience that will fuel their desire to be positive role models, to be educationally successful, and to serve their community.