The Big Idea

In the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic I was listening to an interview on the news. A teacher was asked if the remote learning would have a long term impact on students. The teacher replied, it probably wouldn’t, except for disadvantaged students. So I thought, why not get some volunteers together and see if we can help out some students so that we don’t hear ten years down the road that there was a big learning gap for this group of students. I had a phone call with some friends that all had teaching experience to see what they thought. They liked the idea and we moved forward. It was decided instead of tutoring, we would read online to the students, fostering the love of stories and reading while building relationships with the students, giving them dedicated time each week that is all for them. Another teacher friend suggested that we also include students who were learning English since they usually learn a lot of English when interacting with other students.

All along the way everyone has been supportive of the idea, which has been very encouraging. So many things have fallen in to place, like our working group, 5 of our group are former Title 1 administrators, principals, reading specialists, we are full of great institutional knowledge, about learning and how things work within Fairfax County Schools. The first school we approached said “yes” and has worked closely with us on the details.

Working on this project can continue late into the night, taking up energy, effort, money, etc. But I am so encouraged by all of the volunteers and what they are willing to put in. I am also looking forward to meeting the students and enjoying story time with our Young Readers.