Share the Love of Reading-Become a Reading Buddy Today!

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As a Reading Buddy volunteer, you will spend time with a student on a regular basis to help them improve their literacy skills and inspire a love of reading and books. You will provide encouragement as a child succeeds, and you will be able to model through your own actions that reading is fun!

Reading Buddies are needed twice a week for 30 minutes or more, September - April, and in June for our summer reading camp, Camp iRock. During the school year, Reading Buddies will serve the following local schools: Crosswell Elementary, Forest Acres Elementary, and East End Elementary. During Camp iRock, there is a site located in the cities of Pickens, Easley, and Liberty. Volunteers can specify which sites/areas they prefer to serve. Volunteers will receive training and supervision from the School District of Pickens County and will coordinate all activities withteaching staff to support and extend the literacy learning that is occurring in the classroom.

Reading Buddies should be patient and encouraging, good communicators with excellent listening skills, able to work one-to-one with young people at their pace, passionate about literacy, fluent in English and a competent reader, and able to interact with children from diverse backgrounds.

Reading Buddies will have the opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with a child, see a child’s reading skills and confidence grow, share your love of reading and books with children, and use your creativity and innovation to facilitate learning.

All Reading Buddy volunteers must be 18 years of age or older and will be screened through a SLED background check and National Sex Offender Registry.

For more information, or to sign up to volunteer, contact Anna Spatafora, United Way of Pickens County, aspatafora@uwpickens.org, 864-850-7094 ext. 107.