Here's the Scoop...Reading is Cool!

The theme for our afternoon was "Here's the Scoop...Reading is Cool!" Van Winkle's third grade has the privilege of being part of one of Junior League of Jackson's projects. The Jr. League does so much for our school. Not only do they give every child in the school a free book multiple times throughout the year, but they also donate their time twice a week to come read to struggling readers. Each classroom has two Jr. League volunteers. These ladies work with about six struggling readers each week. The students absolutely adore these ladies! They love the undivided attention and the cheerful dispositions of each volunteer. It has really proved to be a tremendous benefit to our school. And when I say "proved," I mean test scores have verified the effectiveness of their working with our third graders. These children rarely, if ever, have adults reading to them or with them at home. Many parents are working two and three jobs, day and night, and they do the best they can to provide for their families. So, by simply reading with our students and encouraging a love of reading is huge! We are so grateful for the time spent with our children. I also found out that one of my volunteers has a husband in his third year of medical school. So, we had several friends in common. What a small world!

As Jr. League's time with us for this year ended, they treated us to a wonderful surprise. They gave ALL third graders an ice cream sundae party! Oh, how the kids loved it! And, I must say that the teachers loved it too!

Mrs. Taylor, Mrs. Jierski, and me

Some of the Jr. League ladies serving ice cream

The kids were so excited!

And...in case all that is not enough! They also brought gifts for all of us - the teachers! Very nice gifts! We got beautiful pitchers and a cute dishtowel. I was super-excited because it matches my glasses I have at home! What a thoughtful group of ladies!

Mrs. Taylor, Mrs. Hicks, Lisa Miskelly (chairman of this project), me, and Mrs. Jierski with our lovely gifts!

I felt like I could not say "thank you" enough today. I cannot wait until the project starts back up again next year!