Photo Credit: Photo Credit: Trevor LaVine

Inheriting the leadership of Reading Buddies for the 2012-2013 school year, Julia Rosenwald seeks student volunteers.

It is unfortunate that so many children today don’t like to read. In this age of fast-paced video games and other forms of instant and exciting entertainment, it is rare to find a young person who still enjoys sitting down and simply reading.

Luckily, though, GRHS Senior Julia Rosenwald is leading this year’s reading buddies program at the Glen Rock Public Library. As well as being a charitable endeavor, this is for her Girl Scout Gold project. The reading buddies program currently taking place during eight Thursdays, starting the eighth of February. During this time, 8th to 12th graders will volunteer their time to read to elementary school children.

“The purpose of the program is to make kids want to read,” Julia said.

And it is an excellent purpose. Being cursed with the significant misfortune of having twin brothers in fifth grade, I constantly hear my mother yelling at them to do their daily reading. Daily reading? Hah! When I went to school, we didn’t have any daily reading. We read all the time and we liked it!
Student reading buddies, in addition to being educational mentors, become role models for the kids.

“You influence a child’s life.” Julia said, “That is really important… What you do has a huge impact on them”

The program could still use volunteers, and you will receive one hour of volunteer credit for each session you attend. If you are interested, contact Julia at [email protected].