Lead, Read, Achieve!

Project Theme: Literacy

Target Audience and Location: Elementary school students at Richfield Elementary School in Richfield, North Carolina.

Vision: All elementary students enjoy reading at grade level, so they succeed in school and beyond.

Mission: Lead, Read, and Achieve! pairs high school mentors and elementary school students, encouraging them to build their literacy skills in a supportive and engaging environment.

Project Description: Scholar Abigail Wahl and educator Scholar Tina Carter have been passionate about inspiring young students to find joy in reading long before they became Scholars. Through research and their own experience living in a small rural town, they identified that literacy rates were declining at the elementary and high school levels and wanted to do something about it.

They built a partnership with their local elementary school, with the goal of improving literacy early on with younger students. Then they engaged students from their high school whose schedules would allow them to volunteer during the school day. Since September, they have been holding weekly sessions where high school student mentors read and are read to by first, second and fourth grade students.

To ensure the success of weekly reading sessions, the project team sought advice and feedback from school administration, teachers and parents. They surveyed students and parents on what they wanted to read about, to add books to the school library that were interesting, fun and new to the students as well as added some coloring and craft activities to provide some hands-on creative breaks in between reading. As high school mentors increase their leadership skills and rediscover their own love for reading, younger students receive mentorship, encouragement and support in working on their reading skills. The team also partnered with Stanly County Public Library to introduce students to free resources, including how to sign up for library cards and access free audio and e-books.

Watch this team's project presentation at our virtual showcase event!