Volunteers needed for Reading to the Future

Published or Revised September 20, 2017

The Lamar County Coalition of Education, Business and Industry is looking for volunteers to read to second grade students. Beginning its ninth year, the Reading to the Future program will start in October. Individuals or groups of people can adopt a classroom and read aloud to them each week, which usually takes no more than 30 minutes. “We have people wanting to read to a class on a weekly basis,” said Program Coordinator Fran King, “so that individual adopts the classroom and commits to reading aloud to them once each week.” But for those who are unable to read weekly, King said there are groups - a business, club, or just friends - who may team up to read to the students and split responsibilities. That means that if a group has four people, each person might commit to reading only once per month. The Coalition began this program because research shows that reading aloud to children is the single most important thing that can be done to ensure their academic success. It helps students increase and develop vocabulary, listening skills, critical thinking, sentence structure and much more. This year the Coalition continues to partner with the Retired Senior Volunteer Program to bring this opportunity to our community. Reading to the Future is supported in part by United Way of Lamar County, and the program is very beneficial for students and teachers, and very rewarding for volunteers. A Volunteer Appreciation Kick-off reception will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at The Loft 123, located in Paris at 123 Clarksville St. All volunteers and second grade teachers are invited to attend. “The kick-off reception will be come-and-go from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. and participants can register for our door prize,” said King. “This event is our way to thank our many volunteers for their time and commitment to the students in our community.” If you or your group is interested in volunteering for the program, please contact Fran King at the Paris Junior College LCCEBI office at 903-782-0323 or 903-517-6732.