October 17, 2017

Volunteers needed for Reading Partners

Watch the video report on Live5News

Several months ago – YOU in the community responded to our plea to collect books for students in right here in Charleston and Berkeley counties. Through the Carolina Strong Book Drive and our partnership with Reading Partners, we collected more than 11,000 books! But now the organization is asking for your help again because they are in need of volunteers!

Reading Partners needs need 980 volunteers to help support more than 800 students in Charleston and Berkeley counties.  Currently, the organization has 670 volunteers, so they need another more than 300 to reach their goal. The need is greatest at several of our North Charleston schools and Berkeley County schools.

“What we are doing is working, but we can’t do it without the support of the community,” Christine Messick, Reading Partners’ Community Engagement Manager, said.

93% of students served met or exceeded their primary end of the year growth goal last year.  For K-2 students, that means they have mastered the skills necessary to be proficient readers by 3rd grade and for 3-5 grades, it means they have narrowed the reading achievement gap by at least a year.  Messick says they are happy to report that they are the highest performing region among the 14 Reading Partners regions across the country this year.

Reading Partners empowers students to succeed in reading and in life by engaging community volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring.

Thanks to the dedication of more than 14,000 volunteer tutors in Charleston, Charlotte and across the nation, the national non-profit Reading Partners organization provides one-on-one tutoring to more than 10,000 students to help bring them up to their reading level – making an important shift from learning to read to reading to learn. Reading Partners has a proven track record of success.

For more information and to sign up to volunteer, visit www.readingpartners.org.