By Kristin Mayer
Special to the Daily Press

NORTH OF MONTANA Jason Axe brushed his hand over an old Peanuts comic book and a series of C.S. Lewis novels before pulling a well-worn, hardback book about historical baseball games from a cluttered bookshelf. He peeled back the sheets one by one and reminisced about the hours he spent as a 10-year-old pouring over this prized possession.

Dozens of faded volumes lined the wall of his childhood bedroom, interspersed with a prize-winning painting from the third grade, a model sailing ship and Trivial Pursuit box. Each item jogs Axe’s memory and unfolds into a story about a boy in love with books.

“I remember my Mom reading Gulliver’s Travels to me,” Axe said. “I was probably too young, and she kind of made a big deal about it. She’d say, ‘Maybe when you get a little older.’ But I said, ‘No, no,’ I’d heard about it somewhere and really wanted to read it.”

Early literary appreciation led Axe, 35, to found Reading to Kids, a non-profit organization that gathers volunteers to read to kindergarten through fifth-graders in the Pico Union area, just west of downtown Los Angeles.

Each of five schools draws up to 300 kids and 75 volunteers to its monthly reading clubs, which began in 1999, according to Axe. More than 250 of the organization’s volunteers are Santa Monica residents.

Born and raised in Santa Monica, Axe attended Roosevelt Elementary, Lincoln Middle and Santa Monica High schools before spending his undergraduate and law school years at the University of California, Los Angeles.

At UCLA, Axe worked at the radio station, wrote for the Daily Bruin and played trumpet in the marching band. During law school, he volunteered at El Centro Legal in Santa Monica, which helped tenants fight back against landlords who overcharged them for rent.

Axe’s affinity for public service continues today in his job as a U.S. public attorney in downtown Los Angeles, a position that balances out his Reading to Kids commitments.

Reading to Kids satisfies Axe’s love of visionary planning absent from a career in the public sector. During the afternoon, Axe will occasionally step out of his Spring Street office to attend a teachers’ meeting.

“It’s very near and dear to his heart,” said Jessica Tritsch, Reading to Kids program director. “You can always tell he’s having a good time with the kids.”

READING CLUBS

Axe’s dedication children’s learning surfaces every second Saturday of the month, when he rolls out of bed at 7 a.m. He jumps into action, checks for last-minute volunteer sign-ups online and prepares for the day’s “production” at the reading clubs.

Groggy volunteers, temporarily sustained with coffee, grab their grade-specific book of the month and feed off the sheer energy of smiling students who’ve opted for reading sessions rather than Saturday morning cartoons.

One third of the Esperanza Elementary School student body shows up every month. Volunteers have an equally low “flake factor,” and attend consistently, Axe said.

Axe helps grade-level coordinators pair teams of two teachers with about seven students outside the auditorium before they file into their respective classrooms to read aloud to the students, discuss the story and create an art project related to the book.

“The teachers teach the kids. We’re here to encourage the kids,” Axe said. “They see these volunteers coming into the schools and it means something to them.”

Axe makes an effort to speak to the students as if they were adults and refuses to dumb down the material, instead challenging them to succeed — far from the norm in a community where most parents never attended college and don’t speak English as their primary language, Axe said.

“These kids have the same abilities, but not the same opportunities,” Axe said. “Where are all these kids going to get the motivation and encouragement to go to college? If you don’t hold them to that higher standard, no one’s going to encourage them.”

Axe received a dose of respect early on that still resonates in the way he interacts with his students.

“The principal at Roosevelt used to describe me as a 40-year-old kindergartner,” Axe said. “I never felt talked down to. I remember what it’s like, and I knew the difference between being patronized or treated with respect.”

MISSION: IMPROVEMENT

The energy Axe pours into Reading to Kids has paid off. The organization, which will celebrate its eighth anniversary this May, is expanding to a sixth school. Friends and colleagues attribute a large part of the growth to Axe’s vision to make reading a fun and integral part of the students’ lives.

“He has raw passion for the program,” said Matthew Jones, a director on the Reading to Kids board. “People who describe Jason, the first thing they think up is his energy level. He’s one of those people who can put in 110 percent of his time with anything he does.”

Reading to Kids has faced roadblocks, like most non-profits, but has managed to stay afloat. During a period of six months, a funding shortage forced the organization to stop donating books to the schools. Axe’s stream-lined approach to running the organization helped out with low funds, and restored them to a more secure six-month budget.

This January, the number of students attending reading clubs declined. Strategic planning over the next month will focus on child recruitment to boost participant numbers back to their normal levels, Axe said.

“Jason’s definitely at his best when he’s on a mission, when he’s problem-solving,” Tritsch said. “He’s motivated to make things better, so he’s obviously a hard worker. It’s inspiring.”

Having noticed that children and parents who arrived early on Saturday mornings had nothing to do, Axe took advantage of the free time and gave them math problems to solve while waiting for the program to begin. He also set out boxes of books each student could take home as a prize when they left at noon. Axe stressed the value of kids owning books they want to read because it inspires them to continue reading.

Axe has insisted throughout that the organization continue to donate the 40 or so books they read each month to the otherwise sparse school libraries. One volunteer even walked his class along the 110 freeway crossing to the public library because the school library was so bare. Soon after, the Los Angeles Unified School District caught wind of the inconvenient trek and sent a $100,000 check to Reading to Kids, Axe said.

Jones said Axe constantly looks for ways to tweak the program and increase its efficiency. His constant flow of ideas sometimes frustrates other volunteers who are used to the status quo, but it’s all aimed at creating a discussion, Jones said.

The organization isn’t the only thing that is developing. Axe admits that reading, as well as serving on the task force and the board, has forced him to grow as a person. As the organization expands, Axe said he realizes he doesn’t have all the answers. He hopes step back and learn to trust others and the collaborative process.

“I tease him a lot for always changing things and shaking the foundation,” Jones said. “But most importantly, he’s a huge asset and full of integrity and energy, so we’re blessed to have him around.”