From SCOOP
http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/scoop_article.asp?ai=7170&si=124"State education officials are planning a program that would use comics in public schools to help engage reluctant readers. Officials said the statewide project is the first of its kind in the nation," said Baltimore-based WBAL TV's website this past Monday.
"Comics, once scorned by educators, are sharing school library shelves with the classics of literature these days as librarians look for ways to hook teens, particularly boys, on books and reading," said the Orlando Sentinel, Friday, December 10, 2004.
"The reputation of comics has improved so much in recent decades that Maryland is planning a program that would use the books in public schools to help engage reluctant readers. Although some teachers have drawn upon comics as teaching tools, officials said the statewide project is the first of its kind in the nation," said The Washington Post, Monday, December 13, 2004.
As we reported in November, The Comic Book Initiative, a bold and sweeping plan to introduce comic books into the K-12 state curriculum, was the subject as representatives from the Maryland State Department of Education, local educational institutions, The Walt Disney Company, Diamond International Galleries, and Diamond Comic Distributors met Tuesday, November 16, 2004 at the Timonium, Maryland headquarters of Diamond Comic Distributors.
Spearheaded by State Superintendent of Schools Nancy Grasmick and recent Friends of Maryland Education honoree Stephen A. Geppi, President and CEO of Diamond Comic Distributors, the Initiative is dedicated to developing a public education plan that includes instructional strategies and resources which use graphic literature to teach elementary, secondary, adult and correctional students.
"You see kids reading comic books, buying comic books, and they seem totally engrossed," Grasmick told the Post. "It looks like there's really some potential here."
According to the Post, she pointed out that comic books were not intended to replace traditional reading materials. Instead they would be used to supplement students' other reading.
"Maryland's State Superintendent of Schools Nancy Grasmick is to be commended for this bold effort to help our children become better readers," Geppi said. "I have no doubt it will be very successful."
The range of possibilities for administrators, teachers and students to include comics in the educational process is as wide as it is diverse. Some early to this subject have used comics as a reward for getting other work done.
Kittie Masters, a fifth grade teacher in Indiana, said that he has successfully used Garfield books to intrigue students, particularly young boys, who don't seem quite ready for novels and who would most likely not turn to novels for recreational reading otherwise.
"[Garfield] reaches a lot of kids at this level and some of them are just not into reading novels unless they have to. If they had free time, they would not choose to read a novel. So, instead of not reading they're reading Garfield books. I think that's good no matter what the form of reading is," she said.
Others, though, are using comics themselves as teaching tools.
"Those of us who have been using comic books and graphic novels in schools for several years already know how effective they are," said Allyson Lyga, author of Graphic Novels in Your Media Center: A Definitive Guide, a resource that offers school librarians and educators a comprehensive introduction to graphic novels. "As a teacher and a comic book reader, it's wonderful to see a concerted effort to have comics stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the other tools we use to educate children."
Regardless of the particular avenue, it seems clear that outdated attitudes toward comics in school are changing.
First word of this project surfaced on Scoop in July, and we're happy to say that readers keep suggesting other comics-to-education avenues we can explore.
