Quarterly Newsletter: May 2024

Program Updates

Finishing Strong!

It’s that time of year when we get to see our student’s efforts come to light.  At the beginning of each school year students are assessed to establish a baseline for learning. We assess again mid-year and then again at the end to see the impact on student literacy goals.  We are excited to see how much each student has grown! 

Thank You and Celebrating Student Learning

We have plenty of things to make us smile this time of year.  We had an opportunity to thank our volunteers as well as our school stakeholders over the past weeks.  Without each person’s support, we wouldn’t have been able to help students meet literacy goals! Thank you! Thank You! Thank you!

The most important part of this year is the fact that we get to celebrate our student’s learning. They have worked hard to improve their literacy skills and it can be seen throughout the reading centers. The smiles, laughter, and fun show the relationships they have built with Reading Partners and each other. Congratulations to everyone for a great school year.

Community Engagement Updates

National Volunteer Week was lit!

April 21, 2024-April 27, 2024 was National Volunteer Week! We celebrated volunteers for their dedicated service with thank you cards from their students, a daily raffle drawing, a special volunteer thank you video, special recognition to volunteers with outstanding support, and wrapped up the week with a Volunteer/Donor Appreciation event at High Wire Distilling Co!

Congratulations to our raffle winners:

• • Gloria Foss
  • JoMarie Leifert
  • Devon Wade
  • Bill Cobb
  • Sylvia Jefferies

Here is the volunteer thank you video if you missed it!

WE NEED YOU…

Our Commit to the Next Chapter campaign launched the week of National Volunteer Week. A detailed email went out to all of our volunteers to let us know if you will be returning for the 2024-25 school year. We are asking that you respond to the “intent to return” form with a response of “yes,” “no,” or “unsure.” If you did not receive this communication, please email us at volunteersc@readingpartners.org.

Book Your Summer Tutoring Session!

Reading Partners SC will tutor students from surrounding schools in North Charleston and we need volunteers. We will provide both in-person and virtual tutoring opportunities. See additional details below:

North Charleston Elementary
4921 Durant Avenue
North Charleston, South Carolina 29405
June 17, 2024-July 3, 2024
8am-3pm

If you’re interested, please sign up here or contact us directly at volunteersc@readingpartners.org.

Development Updates

Take Reading With You online book drive happening now!

Our Take Reading With You online book drive runs until May 31. We are seeking high-quality new books to refill our reading center bookshelves next school year. Reading Partners’ students take home a new book each week as part of our Take Reading With You program. Through this program, we aim to increase access to reading materials for students and their families. 

Thank you to everyone who has supported our book drive so far. We have collected over 200 new books from the Reading Partners community. We also received boxes of books from Charleston FRIENDS of the Library and Amazon’s Black Employees Network. 

Click the links below to support our book drive:

DONATE

SHOP OUR AMAZON WISHLISTS

 

SHOP OUR BOOKSHOP.ORG WISHLIST

Save the Dates

Mark your calendars for these upcoming events!

Mercantile & Mash Harry Potter Month – July

You don’t want to miss Mercantile & Mash’s Harry Potter month in July! They will be launching a new Bar Mash menu and décor on July 5 along with specialty Harry Potter-themed coffee bar drinks in Mercantile. There will be Harry Potter-themed trivia on July 10, 17, 24, and 31. Proceeds from Harry Potter Month will benefit Reading Partners!

Books & Breakfast – October 23 

Our annual Books & Breakfast fundraiser will be held on October 23 at Holy City Brewing Co. in Park Circle. 

That’s a wrap!

Donor & Tutor Appreciation Event

We had a blast talking with our dedicated tutors and donors at our appreciation event at High Wire Brewing Co. Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate a great year with Reading Partners. 

Sip and Spell Spelling Bee at Frothy Beard Brewing Co.

We co-hosted an adult spelling bee night with Frothy Beard and Tip of the Tongue Trivia on May 8. We had 18 excited teams participate. The top three teams won a Frothy Beard gift card and spelling bee ribbons. Thank you to everyone who came out to play. We are looking forward to hosting this event again in the near future!