By MC3 Michael Ehrlich

NPS Associate Provost retired Navy Capt. Paula Jordanek, pictured in Herrmann Hall, is one of several NPS students, faculty and staff who have volunteered their time and skill for the Monterey County Reads Program in recent years. The program aims to support higher literacy levels at local elementary schools.

"We are a not-for-profit organization that collaborates with a number of institutions including NPS," said Co-Chair and CEO for the Panetta Institute for Public Policy Sylvia Panetta, organizers of the program. "When my husband was in congress, we worked closely with NPS through several of our programs, like the Monterey County Reads Program."

Monterey County Reads works to increase literacy rates in underprivileged areas throughout the Monterey Peninsula. While most NPS students, faculty and even spouses participate mainly through reading to children, Jordanek has offered her own unique expertise in support of the program.

"What I have been doing for the past seven years with the Monterey County Reads Program is analyzing the data to see if there is a statistical improvement, which there has been," says Jordanek. "The Panetta institute uses the results to apply for grants to continue the program. But the institute relies on the volunteers who come in and read to the children and help them to learn."