Philly Reading Coaches is an after-school program that pairs volunteers with K-3 students for child-guided reading sessions that help to motivate and build confidence in reading skills. Learn More!
Last week was a great one for Philly Reading Coaches (PRC). From a mayoral award to a ceremony honoring PRC volunteers, we had plenty of reasons to celebrate!
Here’s the rundown:
PRC Volunteer Wins Youth Hero Award
- On April 3, Mayor Jim Kenney honored Alex Lopez, a high-school student and PRC volunteer, at the Mayor’s Day of Service Recognition Awards.
The Mayor presented Alex, a Mastbaum High School junior, with the Mayor’s Youth Hero Award in recognition of his service as a Reading Coach.
Twice a week, Alex volunteers his after-school time at the nearby Cramp Elementary School (a Community School), reading one-on-one with K-3 students. In the last year, he has clocked over 135 hours of volunteer time! Congrats, Alex!
PRC Volunteers Celebrate First Full School Year
- On April 4, we hosted the first-ever Philly Reading Coaches Volunteer Recognition Event at the MLK Recreation Center in North Philadelphia. The event honored our volunteers and celebrated the first-full school year of PRC programming.
Over 100 current and prospective volunteers joined us for an evening of fun and showing gratitude for the work of our Reading Coaches. Read By 4th Campaign and Serve Philadelphia were on hand to connect people with summer volunteer opportunities.
In addition to recognizing all the volunteers, the event celebrated some important milestones. Since the program’s pilot launch in January 2018 PRC has:
- Given away over 3300 books
- Served over 550 children in 22 sites across the city
- Gained over 500 volunteers
- Logged over 4300 volunteer hours
Mayor’s Youth Hero Award recipient Alex Lopez was honored for 135 hours of volunteer hours at Cramp elementary, and fellow Reading Coach Joanne Brothers was honored for over 70 hours of service at Andrew Hamilton school.
Ted Qualli, executive director of the Police Athletic League (PAL) and a Philly Reading Coaches volunteer, spoke at the event. This is what he had to say about his volunteer experience with PRC: “What I love about this program is, it’s child focused. The children lead – if they want to read, we read. If they want to practice sight words, we practice sight words.”
“We want to do this in more PAL centers. We want adults who care and want to read to kids in our PAL centers,” said Qualli.
At the end of the festivities, of course, we danced!
Ready to Join?
In Fall 2019, the Philly Reading Coaches program will expand to over 30 sites across the city — so we need more committed, passionate volunteers to join us!
Sign up here to find out more about becoming a Reading Coach.
We would love to speak to your organization or community about PRC! Please contact us to set up an information session:
Email: prc@phila.gov
Phone: (215) 686-0317
