Books for breakfast

Rick Hoover - NewsPress

June 23, 2008 10:17 am

— Debbie Dawson was not sure her idea — a 7 a.m. book club for teens — would work. Many of her colleagues were sure it wouldn’t.
But after three semesters, The Breakfast and Brown Bag Book Club at Stillwater High School has grown to four sessions and received one of four 2008 Outstanding Program Awards for Local Education Foundations from the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence.
“I started it because I wanted students to experience the joy of reading out of the classroom setting,” Dawson said, “where they didn’t see reading just as a school assignment, but something they could enjoy for the rest of their lives.”
The Breakfast Book Club received its initial funding from the Stillwater Public Education Foundation, a private group that provides grants for programs in Stillwater schools. With a $1,600 grant awarded in fall 2006, Dawson purchased the first set of books for the club.
“We don’t normally fund just books,” said Gina Miller, SPEF executive director. “We recognized this was something above and beyond that. For kids to find out that it actually is cool to read, (that) there is literature out there that is exciting … I think so many times kids just read what they are told to read.”
The idea was to read two books each semester and meet once for discussion of each book. Due to demand, Dawson is purchasing 100 copies of each book and has started three more discussion sessions on consecutive days — two 7 a.m. sessions (The Breakfast Book Club) and two lunch sessions (The Brown Bag Book Club). Multiple meetings allow for smaller discussion groups and the chance for more students to speak.
“The discussion is student-driven,” said Dawson, who teaches sophomore English. “I typically say ‘what do you guys think?’ and the discussion just goes from there.”
Miller, who submitted the application to the Foundation for Excellence nominating the book club for the award, said the club has become so popular that her son, 16-year-old McClain Robinson, was willing to walk the high school halls carrying a pink book the club was reading.
“(The club) was a good experience for him,” Miller said.
Last fall, SPEF provided another $2,000 grant and the Stillwater Arts and Humanities Council kicked in $2,000. The Foundation for Excellence award, which will be presented Oct. 23 at the University of Oklahoma, includes $1,000 — “that buys 100 books,” Dawson said.
Still, she added, “One of my summer jobs is to write more grants to keep this program going.”
Despite the continuing search for funding to keep the club alive, she said it has exceeded anything she thought possible at the beginning.
“I wanted (students) to have literary experiences that they would talk about long after leaving high school,” she said.
That, too, seems to be successful. Dawson said some book club members contacted her during the summer to see if she would meet with them to discuss a book they were reading on their own. Additionally, Dawson said one of her graduates is not ready to give up on the club.
“She said I will be going to OSU next year,” Dawson related, “but can I still come to book club?”