As the world changes and empires falter, I know where I’m the most useful. Access to reading and books is a right and a necessity, also a hobby that I love. For the 2024-2025 school year, I shared the love of reading with children in the local community. One of the employee resource groups through my employer, has a program called “Book Buddies”. Volunteers sit with elementary school students during their lunch period and read to or with them. The program supports students who struggle with reading. In the program’s three to four years of existence, participating students have graduated with special recognitions and developed a love for reading!
Much of what we need to know or are curious about lives in a book. Delight filled me when the school year started, and I could participate. Volunteers have the option to match with a student solo or in a team of two. I opted to be a solo volunteer. The students are great and every week someone will ask if they can join the program. I’ve filled in when my “buddy” was absent and other volunteers were out of town or meetings blocked their availability.
I appreciated whenever a student would let me sit with them to read even though I wasn’t their assigned “buddy” who they’ve built a relationship with. It means a lot when children trust you and adults must ensure that children know they’re heard, respected, and safe. I’ve read about “Creepy Carrots”, snakes, Katherine Johnson, a mouse dentist, and shared the joy of “The Giving Tree”.
My “buddy” is one of the sweetest kids I’ve ever met. I’m now acquainted with the “Press Start!” series featuring Super Rabbit Boy and a few of Sonic the Hedgehog’s comic adventures. Each week I was greeted with a hug and filled in on the class’s latest learnings. My “buddy” has an affinity for fruit snacks, so I made sure to include them at Christmas. Most days I started our chosen text while my “buddy” ate lunch. We would trade off pages or chapters mostly by request or occasionally my prompting.
I joined the program because I want to support children the best way I can. I don’t want children of my own, but I know that they deserve all the safety, support, and opportunities that we can give them. It is a group effort to foster the environment where they can reach their highest potential and learn to know and trust themselves. Reading will always be useful to them be it for education, survival, or enjoyment. Every topic in the world has a piece of it inside any number of books. My hope is that they’ll read for fun for the rest of their lives.
Next year, I’ll have a new “buddy”. Mine is no longer enrolled at the school we volunteer at. I’m a bit sad because I enjoyed spending lunch time reading with my “buddy” and hoped to help them grow their skill level. I truly hope they’re doing well at a different school and will keep reading the adventures of characters they connect with. This is an experience I treasure and will happily continue as long as I can. I know where my interests and concerns intersect, those are the places you’ll find me, doing what I can to protect and grow my little corner of the world.
The Book Buddy System: Share the Love of Reading
