By Gary Lloyd
Better Basics is seeking volunteers to help children develop a love of reading.
Volunteers are needed during the school day to tutor struggling readers or to read to students and reward their reading achievements with prizes provided by Better Basics. Additional volunteers are need to provide homework help and enrichment support for children.
“Helping a child who needs extra support is so rewarding,” said Better Basics Volunteer Coordinator Kathleen Drake. “Volunteers routinely tell me that they get much more out of volunteering than they give. Making a difference in the life of a child is an investment in our future.”
More than 19,000 students were served by Better Basics programs during the last school year. For more information, contact Drake at volunteer@betterbasics.org.
Earlier this year, Paine Primary School in Trussville won the Birmingham Reads Book Drive Challenge that was a part of the Birmingham Reads Project, a collaborative literacy project of Better Basics and the Junior League of Birmingham. Paine Primary School collected 6,893 books to win the challenge and Paine Intermediate School came in second out of the 11 participating schools, collecting more than 5,000 books. More than 30,000 books were collected in the challenge. Paine Primary earned a $1,000 prize for winning the challenge.
The books that were collected will be provided to at-risk students through Better Basics programs. Better Basics is nonprofit agency dedicated to advancing literacy through reading enrichment and intervention programs in area schools. Better Basics program currently serve students in Birmingham and Fairfield City School systems, and Jefferson, Clay, Talladega, and Hale County school systems.
Several members of the Trussville Rotary Club give their time each Wednesday morning to help students at Paine Primary School improve their reading skills.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.