REAL Men Read MENtor

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Last year United Way of Susquehanna County launched a new signature program called REAL MEN READ at Elk Lake School District. This year the program will be serving kindergarten classes in Elk Lake and Blue Ridge Elementary Schools with hopes of reaching other county school districts in future years.

The REAL MEN READ program connects volunteer male readers, MENtors from the community with Kindergarten classes in an effort to encourage reading and learning in young children, and boost early grade reading success.

MENtors make a commitment to read to a class for an hour five times a year, are trained to interact and lead the children in discovery, and must undergo a security clearance to work with the children. At the end of each classroom visit a copy of the book read to the class will be provided for each student to add to their own personal library.

Why MENtors? In many cases schools are educating children from single-parent homes. Typically teachers are female and so many children do not have a male mentor/positive influencer in their lives promoting the importance of literacy. REAL MEN READ helps these children to see men valuing education and reading.

This is a great opportunity for students to have a positive male 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. We can prepare our kids for a lifetime of success in reading and learning simply by sharing books, encouraging literacy skills, and model the importance of reading.

More MENtors are needed for the program as well as MENtor Assistants (men or women) who will assist during the reading visit.

To volunteer as a MENtor or a MENtor Assistant please contact Robin Cobb at robin.unitedway@yahoo.com or 570-465-3868 by August 1 st. A training session will be provided for all volunteers.