Alex Shamis/Daily Journal Christine Choa, 17, helped Leo Lee, 10, read ’Some Dogs Do’ during the kick off of the Teen leader Reader Program at the Millbrae Library yesterday.

Kicking his right foot underneath his chair in the Millbrae Library and scratching his head, third-grader Leo Lee sounded out the words telling the story “Some Dogs Do.”

As Lee worked his way through the Jez Alborough tale of Sid the flying puppy, Mills High School senior Christine Choa turned the pages and took turns reading, too. On the table next to them, “Three Snow Bears” and “A Bad Case of Stripes” sat, waiting for their turn in the pairs’ hands.

Choa and Lee might seem like unlikely library pals but creators of a new literacy mentoring program say it is a step toward cultivating generations of new life-long readers.

The Teen leader Reader Program kicked off Monday with Choa’s and Lee’s meeting at the Millbrae Library, one of four pilot sites. Libraries in Belmont, East Palo Alto and Half Moon Bay are also participating and with time and need, the program could expand to others, said Jeanine Asche, community engagement services manager for the San Mateo County Library System.

In the program, a high school student — the leader — is paired with a student in the second through fourth grade — the reader. The leader, who has completed approximately an hour of training and is equipped with a thorough curriculum developed by reading/language arts coordinator Jane Danbold, helps the reader finish a book. The leader both listens and reads to help the reader hear fluid, confident language, Danbold said.

Danbold said it would be wonderful to particularly draw in students who are struggling with reading. For now, readers are joining the program through the library while the leaders are volunteering through their schools or directly through the library. So many high schoolers have volunteered, the program is actually in need of more readers, said senior library assistant Spencer Corey.

Choa already volunteered at the library when she learned about the Reader Leader opportunity. She remembered reading “Where the Wild Things Are” as a child although she isn’t sure how good a reader she was. And Lee? Tongue-tied in front of the county and library officials listening in on his mentoring seminar, he received a little prompting from Millbrae Councilwoman Marge Colapietro about why he joined the program.

“Maybe mommy?” she asked.

Lee nodded.

Once the reading portion is over, the reader-leader teams can play games like Scrabble to reinforce vocabulary and word skills. The pairs meet for at least an hour a week at the library, tracking progress on sheets which Chris Hunter, legislative aide for Board of Supervisors President Mark Church, said will hopefully provide quantitative data about the program.

The program is a great example of collaboration, bringing together the county, the County Office of Education and the library system, said Church, who helped spearhead the effort.

Different generations are brought together too, he added, which teaches both participants life skills and responsibility.

“This is very exciting,” he said.

High schoolers can earn community service credit through the program — they also receive a $10 gift card to Starbucks. The readers aren’t left out, though. In addition to prizes like pencils, they receive a $10 gift card to Borders books.

Interested high schoolers and parents of elementary school children can find out more by contacting any of the participating libraries or calling the Millbrae Library at 697-7607 ext. 242.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.