Go to Source
GALESBURG — The first- and second-graders at Cooke Elementary broke into applause on Thursday as their community Reading Buddies filed into the gymnasium for the last time.
As they dispersed to their regular students, some buddies were met by quiet and familiar smiles while others were loudly beckoned by name.
“It’s been a wonderful 10 years with these people who have so freely given up their time for an hour every week,” said first-grade teacher Jodi Johnson.
As Cooke shutters at the end of the school year, the final Reading Buddy session, complete with sugary snacks and celebratory energy, was among several “lasts” coming up for the teachers and students of Galesburg’s smallest elementary school.
Johnson couldn’t help but get emotional as she thanked the group of community members — some who have been volunteering for 10 years — as they sat down with their enthusiastic first- and second- grade companions.
Post-doughnut and practically latched to his reading buddy Carolyn Stevens, second-grader Keyondre Harrison said he was definitely going to miss being at Cooke come next year.
“When this is over today, I’m going give hugs to every one of the reading buddies,” Harrison said, looking at Stevens, who just laughed appreciatively.
It’s a promise he most assuredly made good on, as he touted himself repeatedly to be a frequent giver of hugs.
Stevens, who has been volunteering since the program’s beginning, said she’d like to continue as a reading buddy if it’s made possible at another school next year.
“It’s been very gratifying to work with the kids,” she said. “At the beginning of the year, they were struggling with certain words and now at the end of the year, they’re really reading.”
For another longtime buddy, Lyle Johnson, it’s been rewarding to see the kids grow academically and otherwise.
“When I started, she had a gap where her two front teeth were,” Johnson laughed, looking down at first-grader Alyssa Fisher. “Now look — she’s got teeth!”
As Fisher busied herself with crayons and the makeshift paper tablecloth, she said reading has been her favorite part of the weekly visits.
After all, “That is the whole point.”
“She’s the smartest girl in the first grade,” Johnson said proudly, adding his favorite part has been becoming a role model figure for his reading buddies. “Some of these kids don’t have that anywhere else.”
Johnson said a majority of the teachers will be heading to Steele Elementary next year, but she wasn’t sure whether or not the Reading Buddy program would continue.
“We haven’t really asked too many questions about that yet,” she said, “but I know they’ll miss it here, the students.”