Hailley's New Adventure: Volunteering at Taylor Elementary

For faithful readers since 2010, you might remember I spent my first semester volunteering at a local elementary school. It was an incredibly rewarding experience, but unfortunately, my schedule prevented me from continuing to volunteer. It was something I was disappointed in myself for, because not only did I find immense happiness from helping kids read, I know the school and the students appreciated it as well. I also just had a lot of fun.

So when my schedule freed up a bit this year and I heard about a neat volunteering experience, I jumped at the chance.

I now spend my Thursday after school time volunteering at Taylor Elementary School. I am a Reading Buddy, in conjunction with their Boys and Girls Club after school program. I have three buddies, and for this blog they will simply go by L, K, and P.

The Thursday before Thanksgiving Break marked my third week there. When I first went, all three of my buddies were there and we played a game in their cafeteria. They are fourth graders and extremely nice. I promised to bring books the next time I came. The kids asked me to bring Cheese Its too, but I told them that might have to wait a bit.

My haul from the library

Because I was in need of books at a fourth grade reading level, I headed to the Cedar Rapids Public Library and got myself a library card. This means I now have four library cards (Mt. Horeb, Coe, New York Public Library, and now Cedar Rapids). Does this mean I'm going to be a librarian or what?

When I went to the library, I was quickly reminded of the many books I devoured during fourth grade. I was taken back to the days where we got points based on the number of pages we had read during the school year. I was always at the top of my class, often surpassing the 1,000 pages mark. Being in the library, and especially the children's area, only confirmed to me once more that's where I want to spend my days.   

For week two, only L was at the after school program. We began The Absent Author by Ron Roy. It's part of the larger A to Z Mysteries series. It was fun to read with L because she would read a chapter and then I would get to read a chapter. Just seeing her trying to figure out a word was neat to watch. You could so clearly see the gears turning in her brain and then the light bulb when the letters on the page finally made sense to her.

This past week (week three), L, K, and P were absent. Instead, I got three very excited girls. We did a variety of things, from some reading to working in the computer lab researching information on the Bermuda Triangle. It seems every Thursday will be a new adventure...bring it on!

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to volunteer and hope this will continue until May.