Teen Reading Program
A call for teens to read Three Cups of Tea and lead discussions has to date resulted in about 20 high school students from five Fremont high schools offering to take part in the Teen Reading Program. Teens will be able to earn community service credit hours by participating in various aspects of the program, according to AAUW’s Vicki Baker, chairman of the updated Teen Reading Program. High school students are required to complete 40 hours of community credit in order to graduate from high school.
AAUW and the Fremont Main Library are partnering to bring this community service credit opportunity to youngsters in the city.
Here is how the service credit hours will be apportioned:
| Participating in an orientation re the program | 1 hour |
| Participating in a book discussion | 2 hours |
| Reading the book and leading a discussion session | ? hour |
| Starting a Pennies for Peace program at their high school | 25-35 hours |
“Students were a bit worried about conducting a discussion session on their own,” said Chairperson Vicki Baker, “but we assured them that AAUW members will be there to help them set up the book talks and will be present at each of the discussion sessions.”
Elementary school students in Fremont and Newark have already raised $27,000 for Mortenson’s Central Asia Institute to build schools for children in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The teens can earn community credit hours by setting up the programs in their schools and classrooms.
All students who are part of the Three Cups of Tea Teen Reading Program will get a free ticket to see Greg Mortenson when he comes to our area on March 3, 2009.
“Our goal,” said Vicki, “is to help students become more aware of the culture of Pakistan and Afghanistan. We also want to make them aware of the importance of caring for others and respecting their beliefs.”