The dozen volunteer reading mentors in the Everybody Wins! Iowa Power Lunch program were thanked Friday for giving their time to one-on-one weekly reading with Perry Elementary School third graders.
Certificates of appreciation, signed by Iowa’s governor and lieutenant governor, thanked the volunteers for “helping to ensure a bright future for children and youth across the state by serving as a dedicated mentor.”
The Everybody Wins! Iowa program matches third graders with community “reading partners” and has proved successful in other school districts around the U.S. In many cases the volunteer stays with the same child through several years if the child is returning to the program.
“We love our reading mentors,” said Perry Elementary School teacher Terra Webb, whose third grade classroom serves as the lunchtime co-reading site. The mentors make their way to Webb’s classroom every Friday and spend a pleasant hour talking, reading and eating lunch with their students.
Each volunteer reading partner commits to the program for one school year and is encouraged to continue with the same student from year to year during their elementary school years.
To make certain that the program functions smoothly, a trained school coordinator oversees the program and is supervised by a professional staff member such as Webb. Paraeducator Megan Maylum has coordinated Perry’s Everybody Wins! program this year but now must withdraw, and a new site coordinator is sought.
The job pays $9 an hour and currently asks a one-hour weekly commitment on Fridays from 11 a.m. to noon. The Perry Public Library is organizing another mentors group for second graders, so the coordinator’s job could expand, according to Perry Public Library librarian Misty Stout VonBehren, who is also a third grade reading partner.
According to the job description, candidates for the coordinator positions “must be responsible, organized and independent workers who can communicate effectively with Everybody Wins! Iowa staff, school faculty, adult volunteers and school children. Candidates must be proficient in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Gmail and Google Docs.”
For more information, see the job posting or call the school at 515-465-5656. To apply for the coordinator’s position, send a resume and cover letter to Karen Ligas, executive director, Everybody Wins! Iowa, at statedirector@everybodywinsiowa.org.
