As we walked down the hallway in Reid Park Elementary, I was both excited and nervous to meet the kid I was going to read with… but mostly nervous. I don’t have a ton of experience of hanging out with first graders – more specifically I haven’t since I was a first grader. I was hoping that he or she would like me, think I was funny, think I was cool and try to make a difference for those 30 minutes that we were together.
I was at Reid Park with other YMCA of Greater Charlotte employees as a part of the Y Readers program – a program created in 1999 to help children improve their reading who are currently below their grade level.
I was teamed with Ja’Marcus, a bright-eyed rising first grader who wasted no time.
“Will you read this to me?” he asked as he handed me Mouse Tales.
“Absolutely!” I was thrilled that the ice breaker went so smoothly. “Where do you want to read?”
We sat down on the floor and he took the book from my hands.
“I want to read it,” he demanded.
I was impressed. I was surprised. I was eager to see if his story telling skills were what I thought they’d be. Sadly, they were not. He was looking at the pictures and making up his own story as his finger trailed below the words that he was trying to pretend he was reading.
“Do you want me to help?” I asked. I could tell he couldn’t read well if at all. “I’ll read any of the tales you want.”
Posted by DavidBuzo 
