REAL Men Read Volunteer Program Assistant

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We will be launching our REAL Men Read program this coming school year! We are currently looking for a volunteer Program Assistant who is interested in helping with the administrative side of our REAL Men Read program. The volunteer Program Assistant would help with scheduling volunteers, preparing books and materials to send to volunteers before each visit and to prepare materials for day of the visit.


The REAL MEN Read program is a great opportunity for students to have a positive role model who values education and encourages the love of reading. From K-3rd grade students are learning to read, and from 3rd grade on students need to be able to read to learn. A child who has trouble reading in 3rd grade is less likely to graduate from high school. Encouraging the love of reading at a young age will help children prepare for a lifetime of success.




Please see the attached information sheets. Please share with anyone who may be interested.



What is REAL Men Read?

REAL Men Read is a reading program that acts as an extension of our Dolly Parton Imagination Library Program. Men from the community who are interested in being a volunteer reader will read to a kindergarten class for 1 hour, engage students, act as a role model and encourage the love of reading. Books will be pre-selected and age appropriate. The program connects students with MENtors to provide a fun reading experience and boost early grade reading success.



Who will it serve?

The program will launch at the start of the 2017-18 school year at Elk Lake School District serving the Kindergarten classes. There will be 4 or 5 Kindergarten classes this year with approximately 20 students for each class.



If support allows, in the future we would like to expand into each district in Susquehanna County and even serve 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade classes as well.



How it Works:

Male readers can volunteer to read once a month for each of the 5 months that the program will run or as their schedule allows. A schedule of reading dates will be provided when the program is closer to launching. By the end of the school year we will have completed 20-25 MENtor visits.



Male readers will need to attend a training session, complete a child abuse background check, criminal background check, as well as FBI fingerprinting (UWSC will cover these costs).



Before each reading session a reader card (sample attached) and a copy of the book that you will be reading will be provided to you at least 1 week prior to the reading date. A UWSC staff person or another volunteer will accompany you when visiting a classroom. At the end of the reading session a copy of the book read to the class will be provided for each student to add to their own personal library.



We also have opportunities for those wishing to participate in another capacity,
MENtors to read and MENtor Kindergarten students, and read a pre-selected age appropriate story.

Volunteer Assistants to introduce our MENtors, help keep the reading hour on track, and help hand out books to the students at the end of the MENtor visit. Volunteers to assist in coordinating and scheduling the REAL Men Read program at Elk Lake School District.

We are excited to be able to bring this program to Susquehanna County. If you have any questions or are interested in participating please feel free to contact us.