More than 60 people have expressed interest in helping CedarBridge Academy students boost their reading skills and self-esteem.

Some 45 residents, ranging from homemakers to corporate executives, showed up at a meeting at the school last week to recruit volunteers to read to students.

And another 20 have informed the school they would be willing to sign up in its new Literary Project.

The project, which will also involved parents and teachers, aims to stem the literacy problem experienced by nearly half the students at CedarBridge.

Last December, principal Ernest Payette revealed to The Royal Gazette that about half of the senior secondary school's 1,200 students were functioning below the required level.

"When you have 17-year-olds functioning at a grade nine level, there has to be concern,'' he said.

Fifty percent of the student population had literacy skills below the Bermuda Secondary School Certificate (BSSC) graduating level, he noted.

"The current BSSC programme is totally inappropriate for these young people,'' Mr. Payette added. "This population needs programmes to deal with low literacy skills.'' Programmes similar to Skills for Action -- which places emphasis on conflict resolution, self-discipline, self-appreciation and community appreciation -- a separate reading programme, and "something to bridge the gap'' between CedarBridge and the Bermuda College was needed, he stressed.

The Literary Project is expected to be one step in narrowing the gap.

CedarBridge also plans to other programmes and hire additional staff, including more reading specialists.

But the only person filling that post for now, Margie Jarvis, said she believed the Literary Project was a good start.

Explaining that the Project involved eight programmes which will be phased in this year, Mrs. Jarvis said: "We're looking for community support in two ways, one from general public who can volunteer in the RAP Club (Read Aloud Parents Club which will have parents visit the school every Friday at lunchtime to read to students) and then from the corporate world.'' Companies can help by allowing their employees time off to volunteer at CedarBridge, Mrs. Jarvis added. They can also help by financially assisting the school's eight literacy programmes. Others include TGIF Let's Read which aims to instil in students the joys of reading for pleasure, and Drop Everything and Read which will require that everyone in the school, from teachers to janitors, stop everything and read for ten minutes.

So far, both Mrs. Jarvis and Mr. Payette are optimistic with the level of support the school has received.

"The response was phenomenal,'' Mrs. Jarvis said about the meeting. "They were all very enthusiastic to help. Most of them wanted to know if they would be assigned to one student.'' "My phone has not stopped ringing,'' she added. "We're really overwhelmed by the support of the community.'' Mr. Payette echoed similar sentiments and said: "We're starting some of the inner services in a few weeks and some of the programmes will begin in March and April.

"We realise that if this is going to work, we have to plan it right.'' Mrs. Jarvis said the majority of the help provided by volunteers will be one-on-one, although there will be some work involving students in small groups.

She noted that there will also be a careful screening process of volunteers.

There will also be four training sessions during the week of March 16, she said.

The two-hour sessions, which will run from 10 a.m. to noon and 6 to 8 p.m., will be monitored by volunteer coordinators.