The Boys and Books program went to West Elementary this month to show young boys how fun reading can be.

The Boys and Books program is one of several programs offered by the Jerry L. Johns Literacy Clinic, 3100 Sycamore Road, suite 2003. The program enhances reading for school-age boys from DeKalb and Sycamore.

Program participants meet with the boys on a weekly basis, providing games and activities similar to a book club to keep boys interested in reading. NIU-affiliated instructors lead the program at schools and at the clinic.

Evan King, graduate law student and outreach coordinator for the clinic, said the program is necessary because statistics show boys lose interest in reading around elementary school age.

Laurie Elish-Piper, Jerry L. Johns Literacy Clinic director, said participants have volunteered in the Boys and Books program in Naperville, at the clinic and at West Elementary, 240 S. Fair St. in Sycamore.

“I think it is a really exciting program since as the boys go to elementary and beyond they don’t want to read. It helps them build the love of reading that will carry on for life,” Elise-Piper said.

Jennifer Reuland, reading specialist at West Elementary, said she and the other reading specialist, Donna Eggelson, felt it would be a great opportunity for fourth graders to become motivated to improve and keep up their reading.

“The boys were really excited,” Reuland said. “Suzie Hinrichs, assistant director at Jerry Johns Literacy Clinic, was really good about putting together a list of books, and the boys were part of the book selection program. They were invested from the beginning.”

The Jerry L. Johns Literacy Clinic was established 60 years ago, according to its website. It provides services for kindergarten through 12th-grade students. The clinic received a Reading Specialist Certificate that qualifies it to help to students who need assistance in reading from the Illinois State Board of Education.

King said the program runs for six weeks and has been going on for several years.

“This summer we are hoping to continue to run the Boys and Books at the clinic. That will bring a lot of different students,” King said.