September 1, 2016

Reading Partners’ community commits to serving 725 readers in 2016-17

Commit to the Next Chapter breakfast event helps Reading Partners’ volunteers and key community stakeholders rally behind students.

Charleston, SC — August, 30, 2016—On August 30, 150 Reading Partners’ volunteers, staff, and friends gathered together at The Harbour Club in downtown Charleston to kick-off another year of Reading Partners with the Commit to the Next Chapter breakfast, sponsored by a Community Engagement grant from Trident United Way. Attendees had the opportunity to hear from featured speakers and authors of We Are Charleston, Herb Frazier, Bernard Powers, Ph.D. and, Marjory Wentworth, as well as Reading Partners South Carolina’s Executive Director, Kecia Greenho, and Board Chair, Richard Star.

The message for volunteers, staff, and friends of Reading Partners was one of hope. “We want to create a movement around the literacy crisis in our community, and that begins by understanding South Carolina’s history, it’s amazing resilience, and how we can use that resilience to rally behind our students,” says Christine Messick, Community Engagement Manager for Reading Partners South Carolina. “We feel the message of We Are Charleston, and the legacy of the victims of the Mother Emanuel shootings, helped our volunteers understand that we, as a community, can be the positive difference in our student’s educational journey.”

The event set the tone for the upcoming school year, and energized volunteers to once again help their students to reading success. In the upcoming school year, Reading Partners South Carolina plans to serve 725 struggling readers at 16 elementary schools in Charleston, Berkeley, and Florence counties. Reading Partners needs the help of more than 800 community members to volunteer at least an hour a week with a student.

For more information on volunteering and school locations, visit https://scvol.my-trs.com/.