Syracuse, N.Y. — Book Buddies, a volunteer reading program in the Syracuse City School District, is expanding into a sixth school and is looking for more volunteers to read with kids.
The program, started by the United Way nearly a decade ago, aims to boost literacy rates in children in kindergarten through third grade.
It does this by pairing up hundreds of students across schools with their own volunteer, who comes and reads with them at least once a week.
Book Buddies currently operates in five schools across the city schools. The United Way is adding a sixth school this year: McKinley-Brighton Elementary School.
The other five schools are: STEAM at Dr. King Elementary School, Seymour Dual Language Academy, Delaware Primary School, Dr. Edwin E. Weeks Elementary School and Roberts PreK-8 School.
The program’s only requirements are that volunteers must be at least 18 years old and pass a background check.
Volunteers come into the schools for at least 30 minutes during the school’s lunch hours. Book Buddies provides all of the necessary materials.
Laurie Black, the program’s community education director, says it happens during lunch so that every kid who needs it can participate.
“Before and after school, you miss out on too many kids that don’t get there,” Black said.
While the program is already anticipating close to 400 volunteers for this school year, they are looking to get up to 600 volunteers so that each student can have their own volunteer, according to Black.
She says the United Way has been trying to expand the program to make up for the significant learning loss from the pandemic.
“The real throughline for all of those volunteers is they like kids and they really, most of them are like ‘I love reading myself and I want to just give that joy, that opportunity to love reading,” Black said.
Students in the Book Buddies program at Seymour Dual Language Academy receive their Just Right Reader bags for taking home their books.United Way of CNY
Thomas Freyer, an assistant vice president at the insurance agency Haylor, Freyer and Coon, is entering his third year as a book buddies volunteer. He says one of the most rewarding parts of being a Book Buddy is building a relationship with the kids.
“You can see the enjoyment the kids have by just seeing that they have, you know, typically one book buddy supporting them,” Freyer said. “The smiles, the joys it brings to them, and it does the same for us. I think that’s why everyone participates in this program.”
SCSD students have demonstrated a severe need for a program like this. According to literacy statistics from the New York State Report Card, the district’s third grade students lag behind the county average.
Across Onondaga County, 41% of students meet the standard, compared to only 17% of students in the Syracuse City School District.
Practice is the key to building reading skill, which is like a muscle, according to Black.
“These struggling readers really just need more time, more space, and they’re the ones who kind of get cheated out of all that extra opportunity to practice,” Black said.
The link to sign up to become a Book Buddies volunteer can be found on its website at www.cnybookbuddies.org.
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