Every Wednesday, Karmina Cook’s Sunnyslope Elementary School kindergarten class buzzes with excitement – for reading.
Throughout the room, Nueva Vista High School “Book Buddies” read to engaged students who marvel as their older mentors turn the pages. After reading a Thanksgiving story, NVHS Senior Yuliana Rodriguez asks, “What are you thankful for?”
Students excitedly raise their hands to answer. “I’m thankful for my mom,” one little girl exclaims. In other areas of the classroom, students play games and draw pictures of their buddies.
The Book Buddies program pairs NVHS ASB leaders with transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students in an effort to build reading and socialization skills for the kindergarteners and reinforce leadership skills for the high schoolers. Nueva Vista students walk to nearby Sunnyslope each week, weather permitting, to participate.
All of Sunnyslope’s seven transitional kindergarten and kindergarten classes partake in the program, including the Dual Immersion classes, where NVHS students connect with their younger peers in Spanish. The Book Buddies program began several years ago and was brought back this year after a hiatus during the pandemic.
During each session, students listen to stories, play games, and spend time interacting with their buddies. Teachers and students say the program is making a powerful impact. “My students are learning how to read fluently when a big buddy is reading to them,” Mrs. Cook said. “They're reading familiar stories together, building their oral language and their vocabulary…and just getting to learn a familiar face here at school every week.” They are also learning important social skills, she noted.
“I think my students are learning how to share more, how to communicate more,” said Amirah Hayes, NVHS senior. “Before, they would all talk over each other…They’re learning how to take turns and be patient.”
The program has a positive effect on the social-emotional health of high school and elementary students as well. Claudia McMains, NVHS ASB advisor and math teacher, said everyone is in a great mood after the Wednesday visits. “After we go to Book Buddies and we’re walking back, they’re talking about how much fun they had and about their buddies,” she said. “I think it also benefits them…to see the leadership skills they possess. We have a lot of great leaders in our class and sometimes they don’t see the effect they can have as leaders.”
Teachers and students involved with the program believe that it will leave a lasting impression on all who participate. “If I were to have experienced this, I wouldn’t have been so afraid to talk to other people, especially older people like teachers or [older] students,” Yuliana said. “I would have been more excited to come to school,” added Amirah.
Mrs. Cook sees yet another important benefit to the program: building community. “I think it’s important that we foster relationships within our community and within our school district,” she said, and “to teach our kids that it’s okay to have buddies that are big kids.”
