Lazy Days of Summer? Not at Read to Succeed!

​We hope this summer brought you sun-sparkled days relaxing on the beach, travel dreams come true, or just a simpler, slower pace of life in our beautiful mountains.

At Read To Succeed, however, staff and volunteers accelerated into overdrive! Here’s a recap:

When I grow up, I can be . . .
We conducted a “summer slide” enrichment program at Pisgah View Apartments, engaging our neighborhood children and their parents in a fun career exploration series. The WNC Nature Center presented a wildlife program and Jason Boyer (News 13) brought materials for anemometers and made them with the kids. Asheville Fire and Police departments were well represented: their members visited, read to the children, and forged some meaningful relationships in our neighborhood. Our end-of-summer celebration featured a dunking booth (with APD rookies), balloon art and face-painting. AFD brought badges and treats for the children while APD grilled hot dogs with all the fixings, feeding all the kids and their families and providing gift bags to attendees. To top it off, Tammy Watford filmed a segment for her Never Stop Learning series. You can watch the sgement here.

Thank you to all who made this possible, including those named above, staff members Michele Luther and Amanda Shive, several dozen volunteers and Par-t-Perfect.

Deaverview Summer Program
Julie Thomas trained 8 adults and 3 teenagers (all Deaverview residents) to lead their own reading sessions with students. They learned specific techniques in reading to children and listening to them read. They were trained in lesson plan completion and  overall encouraged reading in their community.

Most sessions were held during the Free Lunchtime at the Deaverview community center. Children arrived, picked up their lunches, sat at a table, and either looked at books, read, or were read to while enjoying lunch. Other reading times were conducted in their own homes, even while babysitting.

Continuing Education
Our trainers, Julie and Amanda, have designed and conducted summer training for our returning volunteers, preparing them for their students’ new grade levels. The classes review teaching techniques and introduce new tutoring skills. The workshops include Comprehension Fluency, Rising Grade Level, Phonics Review, and Syllable Foundations. They are also training a team of assessors to evaluate student beginning of year reading ability as well as school co-leads, to provide leadership and coaching to each school’s tutors. 

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