Members of “Milton’s Book Club,” a program through Chautauqua Striders at Fletcher Elementary School, smile with their copies of “Mr. Popper’s Penguins.” Pictured are Striders volunteer Nelson Garifi and director of academics, Anna Gassman, and students Maleah Soto, Kiara James Gabalski, Charli Hansen, Sophie Whittaker, and Fiona Rublee.

Each Tuesday after school, roughly a dozen Fletcher Elementary School students gather in the school library.

“Alright, my friends,” says the gentleman seated in the middle of the room. “Let’s open our books to page 35 and we can begin where we left off last time!”

Throughout the week and during their time at the after school program, the students are tasked to do well in the classroom and be on their best behavior in school. The reward is this moment: a book club with Chautauqua Striders volunteer Nelson Garifi.

A longtime partner with Jamestown Public Schools, Striders began expanding their longtime tutoring services to students at district elementary schools by establishing a “book club” program earlier this school year at Fletcher to start reading more with students involved in the after-school program, said Anna Gassman, Striders’ director of academics.

“We wanted to start reading more with the kids since some of them are really struggling since returning to full-time education after the pandemic,” said Gassman. “Then there are other kids who really enjoy it so we decided to try something new to entice them to want to read.”

The project, meanwhile, found its perfect partner in Garifi, who retired from his role last fall as executive director of academic innovation at Jamestown Community College after 40 years with the college.

“When Nelson came to us wanting to volunteer, we approached him with this idea and he said, ‘Yes, absolutely. This sounds great. This is something I’d love to do,'” Gassman noted.

“It’s been such a wonderful experience,” said Garifi. “It’s amazing to work with the students. They are so eager to participate and they really do a tremendous job of helping each other out.”

Once students registered for the club, Garifi led the group’s process of choosing its own name, landing on “Milton’s Book Club ” as a way of paying homage to Milton J. Fletcher, the school building’s namesake who served as the district’s third superintendent from 1919 to 1932.

“I was really impressed when we chose the book club name,” Garifi said. “The other options probably sounded a little bit more fun, but they really wanted it to be this. It was the students who chose the name.”

During their time together on Tuesdays, the students — who vary in grade level — have worked with Garifi to make it through their first book selection: “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” by Florence and Richard Atwater.

“We chose a book that spans abilities and it gives everyone a chance to read and become a better reader,” Garifi said. “We get through a chapter together each time. It’s a very old book and it goes back to the 1930s, so it’s given us a lot of older vocabulary words to consider.”

“What we try to do as we are reading our book is find new words so that we’re building our vocabulary so that it gets bigger and bigger and bigger,” Garifi added. “It’s pretty much words that no one will know. We’re taking words that stretch us to learn a little bit.”

Whenever a student doesn’t know a word, they get to sound a buzzer and write it on a large sheet of paper.

“When we pause in our reading, we talk about what the word means and we talk about trying to go home and use the word,” Garifi noted. “We also try to look for clues in our reading, like the setting and whether it took place in the past, present, or future. Students discovered that it took place in the past when the characters in the book talked about an ‘ice box’ instead of a refrigerator, or ‘calcimine’ being in paint or the men wearing ‘trousers.'”

Book club remains a highlight of the students’ week.

“My favorite part is probably reading the book, because I think it is really interesting,” said Fletcher third grader Sophie Whittaker.

“Mine is writing the vocabulary words on the big sheet of paper!” said third grader Maleah Soto.

Gassman hopes to expand the program to at least one other elementary school’s after-school program later this school year. She also hopes to reward students’ work by giving each a book to take home once the club finishes a book together.

“When they finish a book, they can take a book home as well as a great book mark,” said Gassman.

Those interested in donating books for students in the book club can drop off their donation at Striders’ offices in the Lynn Building’s Suite 102 at 301 East Second Street.