Little Buddies Love Reading!

In previous years, sixth graders were eligible to serve as Big Buddies in the Reading Buddies program.  For several reasons, however, in 2010 we raised the minimum grade level for participation to 7^th grade:

1.      We now tend to have more Big Buddy applicants than Little Buddies, so this is a way to keep the numbers more equal.

2.      We find that many of the younger Big Buddies are more successful after they have spent a semester or two in middle school; they seem more responsible and better prepared for the demands of mentoring a younger child for an hour at a time.

3.      We like to keep a significant age gap between the Big and Little Buddies so that the Little Buddies truly feel like they are benefitting from the attention of a cool teen mentor.

However, we recognize that this means that there are three years where children are too old be Little Buddies but too young to be Big Buddies.  As a result,

1.       We have created a Writing Buddies program for fourth, fifth, and sixth graders.  Its focus will be creative writing and we plan it offer it every summer.

2.       We invite sixth graders who are particularly mature to serve as “Big-Buddies-in-Training.”  These students will have an interview with the coordinator, attend a training session, and participate in the Reading Buddies program of their choice; however, they will not be placed one-on-one with a Little Buddy.  Rather, they will do one of the following:

a.       Shadow an experienced Big Buddy and interact with his or her Little Buddy during the entire program, eventually working one-on-one with the Little Buddy for part of each session.

b.      Shadow a different experienced Big Buddy for each meeting.

Students who will be in sixth grade in fall 2012 and who would like to be Big-Buddies-in-Training should contact the Reading Buddies coordinator for a copy of the application and then submit it by May 11, 2012 (late applications will be considered on a space-available basis).

Sarah Dodson-Knight, the Reading Buddies coordinator, can be reached at 303-665-5200 x3813 or sarahd@cityoflafayette.com

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