One to One Reading Program turns pages at Northern, Southern elementaries
By Nila Harris
Volunteers for One to One at Northern and Southern Elementary concluded this year’s reading mentorship with a celebration at the individual schools.
“One to One provides all members of our community (business, parents/guardians, faith-based and involved citizens) an opportunity to play an integral role in helping struggling students with the support they need to be successful in reading,” Northern Kentucky Education Council states.
The program utilizes volunteers who have been trained as “coaches” to form relationships, listen to children read, ask questions about what the child has read, do word work on sight words, and write in journals. Each coach meets with the same second grade student, once a week for 30 minutes.
According to nkyec.org, “Since 2008, One to One has increased participation from four to more than 35 partner schools and provided academic support for more than 4,317 students and given 8,456 books to children we coach and their families.”
Coach Penny Wheatley explained about being involved in One to One: “Seeing how a little extra help can improve a child’s self-confidence in themselves is an amazing thing. The smiles you see when they accomplish something they never thought they could, makes me feel that I’ve also accomplished something and made a positive difference in a child’s life.”
One to One organizer Tina Record stated that “we would love to have more mentor participation.”
Training for the 2025-26 school year has not been set yet but should take place in Fall 2025. If you are interested in working one to one with a second grader at Northern or Southern for the 2025-26 school year, see nkyec.org/one-to-one for details on how to get involved.