A Vicksburg service club is working with Mississippi Public Broadcasting to help preschoolers learn to read.

Vicksburg Rotary has helped bring to Good Shepherd Community Center Preschool an MPB literacy program called Between the Lions.

The class at Good Shepherd has 12, 4-year-old students. It is the only preschool the local Rotary club has adopted for the program. Rotary clubs across Mississippi were encouraged to adopt a preschool, said Lynn Foley, the local club’s community service chairman.

“It’s a wonderful program,” said the Rev. Tommy Miller, director of Good Shepherd.

Created in 2005 to improve early childhood education and build a strong literacy foundation among preschoolers, Between the Lions is an educational curriculum based on the PBS Kids television series “Between the Lions.” The curriculum, which includes videos, games and books, helps preschoolers learn to read by helping them recognize letters and sounds.

“The kids have made leaps and bounds with the curriculum,” said Princess Brown, MPB program facilitator, adding that the students have grasped the five components of reading — letters, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.

The program was started in November and will continue through the end of the school year. A pre-assessment of the children’s reading skills was performed, and a post-assessment will be done. Teachers attended a full-day workshop before the start of the program .

The theme of last week’s reading lesson at Good Shepherd was the story of the gingerbread man. As part of the hands-on component of the literacy program, the preschoolers were invited to Corner Market on North Frontage Road for an afternoon of decorating and eating gingerbread cookies.

“They’re excited,” said Good Shepherd teacher Darlene Burns, who accompanied the children. “I love the curriculum because it’s structured, and it keeps the children occupied.”

The cost to implement the program was $1,500, Foley said, and was provided to Rotary through a grant.

“We would like to expand the program to another preschool next year,” said Joel Horton, Vicksburg Rotary president. “It would be exciting to have more children involved.”

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Contact Manivanh Chanprasith at mchanprasith@vicksburgpost.com.