SUNBURY -- Fifteen percent of the Valley's residents don't have basic reading skills, slightly higher than the state average of 13 percent, according to the National Center of Education Statistics.

As many as one quarter of students in some Valley schools had below-basic reading skills last year, Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests show.

Members of a Sunbury church who researched illiteracy have begun an outreach program titled "Learn to Read."

"It's simple. It tells exactly what we're doing," said Clara Strausser, of First Baptist Church, a program coordinator and retired reading specialist.

"This is a need that we know exists, and it's something that I've been in for a long time. And I enjoy doing it."

Nine tutors trained in the fall with Christian-based curriculum. The program is now preparing to be more widely implemented. Five students are being helped and volunteers are hoping for more.

Darrin Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church, discovered statistics that estimate at least 2 percent of residents in any city are illiterate. In Sunbury, a city of 10,000, that number would be 200.

The challenge is finding those who have difficulty reading.

"Most people who have reading deficiencies will develop coping skills that will mask or hide the fact that they cannot read or read well," said Julie A. Shumaker, adult education program manager at the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit.

"We're hoping we can break that stigma," Hunt said, "and let them know that there is hope and there is help for them."

Meanwhile, the volunteers are making a difference in the life of a 13-year-old Sunbury boy.

Building confidence

JR Moll has been working with his tutor, Rachel Michael, since September.

The home-schooled student has struggled with dyslexia since second grade.

"It's challenging," he said.

JR is grateful for the opportunity to work with Michael and improve his reading skills, and he says he's already seen an improvement.

"It helped me sound the (words) out better, and read faster," Moll said.

Michael is helping JR to learn by utilizing a special literacy program to assist with dyslexia, and interaction through Skype and its associated text tools.

"When we first started, he was more reluctant to read out loud," Michael said. "He's gotten much more confident with that. He's also reading faster than he was."

His word recognition has also increased.

Michael is putting no time limit on how long she will work with Moll, saying she will "as long as I need to."

It's the same hope she has for the entire literacy program.

"I'm hoping that we get to the point where literacy is such a small problem in Sunbury that everyone who wants to read will be able to," Michael said.

"We've been really wrestling and praying with looking at the needs of the community and how we as a church can meet those needs," Hunt said.

Parishioners realized the need was not being met.

Hunt then discovered Christian Literacy Associates, who help people to read from a Christian perspective.

"We want to help people physically, emotionally and spiritually," Hunt said.

One man involved in the Learn to Read program wants to learn how to read so he can get a driver's license and complete a resume.

"It's a whole new world for him," Hunt said.

Added Shumaker: "We meet people every day who are not able to fully function in today's world because of their reading levels."

Essential to success

A reading deficiency can affect everything from a person's every day living, to employment opportunities, to their children's education, she said.

The CSIU's Adult Education and Family Literacy programs help people ages 17 and older. Students with reading deficiencies run the gamut of age categories, Shumaker said.

"Literacy is essential to achieving success in today's economy," Shumaker said. "Most people with reading deficiencies will not be able to compete in today's job market. The single most pervading attribute of poverty is illiteracy."

Some prisons have up to a 75 percent illiteracy rate in their inmate populations, Hunt said.

To meet their basic needs, "A lot of those people don't have much alternative but to commit a crime," Hunt said.

The group has discussed teaching inmates how to read.

"Maybe when they get out they can actually turn the corner, and do something constructive, make a living," Hunt said. "I realize that this can be intimidating to people."

Making a commitment

But he encourages them to check it out for themselves, especially those who know someone who doesn't know how to read.

Put yourselves in their shoes, he says.

"They can imagine for a moment what their life would be like if they couldn't read," he said.

Not being able to read a newspaper or warnings, take a test, get a job.

"It would be such an emotional prison for them," Hunt said. "We take that for granted.

"I think we really struck on something the city of Sunbury needs. It's a humbling privilege to be able to help meet needs."

The free and confidential program requires a commitment by participants of two, one-hour tutoring sessions each week.

One-on-one teaching sessions will be held in a secure and safe environment, such as the church or a local library.

Brochures on the program will be distributed soon in businesses throughout Sunbury, and possibly local schools as well.

Lessons are aimed to help the student reach a sixth-grade reading level, at which time, Strausser said, they should be able to read a newspaper, fill out forms and applications for work, get a driver's license and do other basic tasks.

Where they go from there requires practice, she said, and the sky -- and their own desire and dedication -- is the limit on how proficient they will become.

More information about "Learn to Read" is available by calling First Baptist Church at 286-0731.

More information on Christian Literacy Associates is available at www.christianliteracy.com.