THE RITTA RATIONALE
by Cynthia “Lady Rose” Roberson

The origination of the RITTA BOOK concept stems from my career as an elementary School Media Specialist. My students made me feel more like a dentist. It was like pulling teeth to get them to read. Day after day, I was baffled by the lack of their reading interests and abilities. The levels of lethargy regarding literacy were alarming. In my observation, it was clear that in order to address my students’ Need to Read” both efficiently and effectively, I would have to create some sort of medium. This medium would ultimately become our meeting place. It was a place I used to ignite their interests and pique their curiosity regarding reading.

When confronted by the dispositions of my students, I grew more determined than ever to find a solution to this diabolical dilemma. The challenge inspired me to create a reading enrichment program I call, Reading with RITTA BOOK. This plan would literally bring literacy and learning to life. My students needed a teaching method that emphasized multiple intelligences and learning styles as its foundation. By integrating reading with music, poetry, drama, arts, and crafts, I was able to successfully touch, move, and inspire my students to not only read but enthusiastically engage in the learning process.

This was especially important to me because growing up I struggled severely with reading. This enabled me to empathize with my students’ apathy. As an adolescent, I endured the plight of not knowing how to competently read or write. It gravely affected my ability to excel academically and consumed my life with feelings of inferiority and insecurity. With this in mind, I made a vow to myself that no student of mine would ever know the pain of being bullied by books or intimidated by the task of seeking and finding information that could empower them with tools to succeed.

The RITTA BOOK concept was designed with struggling and reluctant readers in mind.  As an interactive, student-focused enrichment program, students were able to discover and begin the development of their intellectual strengths. While encouraging students to become independent lifelong learners, the RITTA BOOK concept sets the precedence, that education is a means of emancipation by which the need to reach one’s full potential is within their grasp.