PENDLETON — Friends of the Pendleton Community Library is recruiting volunteers for a new program called Reading Friends.
The program is designed to help first-grade students improve their reading confidence and skills at a crucial time for learning.
“We get it,” Coco Bill of Friends of the Library said. “Young family lives are busy, and before you know it, it’s bedtime, and you haven’t even had time to practice reading with your child.”
The Friends group wants to help as many children as possible with skills such as matching letters to sounds, seeing patterns in the spelling of words, and pronunciation.
“An entire universe of new words, sentences and stories await them, and sometimes it only takes a good listener to help them master the confidence they need to explore,” Bill said.
Reading Friends involves volunteers who will spend time reading and listening with first-graders.
The idea for the Reading Friends program started with a coffee shop conversation Bill had with Chris Wilson, a recently retired educator of more than 30 years.
Bill spoke with Wilson about how a Friends group could have an impact in the community.
Wilson was excited to help the Friends with the idea, Bill said.
“Her teaching expertise and school contacts have been invaluable in our planning process and recruiting efforts,” she said.
Friends of the Pendleton Community Library is recruiting volunteers to spend at least one hour, one day a week, to help first-graders at Pendleton Elementary School-Primary.
Training workshops for interested volunteers are scheduled for October with the goal being to have the Reading Friends run from November through May.
It’s hard to gauge how effective the program will be, Bill said, but any positive impact will make it time well spent.
Research shows a student’s self-concept and the value he or she places on reading is critical to the student’s success, organizers said, and that’s why they want to get the program started as soon as possible.
For more details about the program or to sign up to volunteer, email [email protected], or call Coco Bill at 765-778-2728 or Chris Wilson 765-778-2014.
