It’s all part of the Ready Readers Program in Kershaw County.
Author: Walker Lawson, WLTX
Published: 5:30 PM EDT March 28, 2023
KERSHAW COUNTY SC — A new program is helping students in the Kershaw County School District make sure students are reading at their grade level. The program is called “Ready Readers.” It’s a partnership between United Way of Kershaw County and AmeriCorps, which aims to address classroom reading levels since students were home during the pandemic.
It kicked off in September and has only grown thanks to the help of students like Carolina Stuckey. “Honestly, I’m really blessed,” says Lugoff-Elgin High senior, Stuckey. She spends four days a week reading to 35 students at Jackson School, driving almost 50 miles round trip. “I thought, Okay! When I don’t have a full school schedule this would be fun to do. I’m very much a morning person, and the first week of having a late start, very late start, I didn’t like it as much and I needed something to do.'” Stuckey said. “I’m a very hands-on person. I looked at the Ready Readers and saw there are kids out there who need help reading and those who are a little bit behind and need to go forward and I said, ‘Perfect, I’m right here.”
The program that caught Stuckey’s eye, and gave her the opportunity to assist students, is one she says she needed when she was younger. “When I started out reading in elementary school, I wasn’t the greatest reader. I needed a little bit of a push from my peers, by my teachers, by those helpers. I thought ‘Why not these kids that need that person?’ I could be that person for them because I came from that,” Stuckey said.
The program currently has around 50 volunteers who come once a week. They also have 14 AmeriCorps members who are in nine elementary schools. Those wanting to volunteer can call United Way of Kershaw County at (803) 432-0951.
Author: Walker Lawson, WLTX
Published: 5:30 PM EDT March 28, 2023
KERSHAW COUNTY SC — A new program is helping students in the Kershaw County School District make sure students are reading at their grade level. The program is called “Ready Readers.” It’s a partnership between United Way of Kershaw County and AmeriCorps, which aims to address classroom reading levels since students were home during the pandemic.
It kicked off in September and has only grown thanks to the help of students like Carolina Stuckey. “Honestly, I’m really blessed,” says Lugoff-Elgin High senior, Stuckey. She spends four days a week reading to 35 students at Jackson School, driving almost 50 miles round trip. “I thought, Okay! When I don’t have a full school schedule this would be fun to do. I’m very much a morning person, and the first week of having a late start, very late start, I didn’t like it as much and I needed something to do.'” Stuckey said. “I’m a very hands-on person. I looked at the Ready Readers and saw there are kids out there who need help reading and those who are a little bit behind and need to go forward and I said, ‘Perfect, I’m right here.”
The program that caught Stuckey’s eye, and gave her the opportunity to assist students, is one she says she needed when she was younger. “When I started out reading in elementary school, I wasn’t the greatest reader. I needed a little bit of a push from my peers, by my teachers, by those helpers. I thought ‘Why not these kids that need that person?’ I could be that person for them because I came from that,” Stuckey said.
The program currently has around 50 volunteers who come once a week. They also have 14 AmeriCorps members who are in nine elementary schools. Those wanting to volunteer can call United Way of Kershaw County at (803) 432-0951.