Darlene's Digest

Wednesday was my last Reading Pals session for this year. I don't think I mentioned that I ended the year with two Pals, a 2nd grader and a 3rd grader. I'd split my sessions between the two young ladies since they were at different levels, and that seemed to work out well.  They left with bookbags filled with new and used books, and they each gave me a lovely hand drawn card to remember them by. I cannot say enough what a delight it is to work with young readers. Even when we had our rough spots--and there were plenty of those--seeing the comprehension and skill levels rise simply from more reading made my day brighter. I've told the Reading Pals coordinators that I'm available to keep reading this summer, and I'll definitely be back in the autumn. Kudos to the United Way and the Alachua County School District for putting this program in place. I ended the year by giving each of my Pals a special bookmark of her own. While I'm not a collector, over the years...

The young lady I tutored moved away over Spring Break, which left me greatly saddened. This was a child who desperately needed help if she was going to catch up with her age group and be ready for the third grade, and I hope wherever she goes to school for the remainder of the year she'll get additional help. I wasn't sure if I'd be assigned another pupil with the school year winding down, but yesterday I had my first session with my new Reading Pal, Katie. She's a third-grader who hadn't had her own Pal before this. She had to share a volunteer in a group setting, so we were both happy to have one-on-one opportunities. We met in the school library, and I spent part of the hour getting a feel for what she likes to read. To my delight, Katie picked Alice in Wonderland as the novel she wants us to read together. I'm optimistic, and I look forward  to weeks of quality reading time with Katie before summer. It's really boosted my spirits to know I'll co...