ReadingPals

ReadingPals is a statewide early literacy initiative that provides volunteer mentors for students from pre-k to 3rd grade who may need extra help.

ReadingPals - two girls in a classroom

Our ReadingPals volunteers have been paired with thousands of young children in Florida. They build meaningful relationships and help improve their social-emotional development and early literacy skills.

Why is ReadingPals Important?

Only 37% of students that did not attend VPK are ready for Kindergarten, compared to 62% of students that completed 70% or more of VPK Program Hours.

RP 13 years

What Do We Hope to Achieve?

  1. MENTORING: To build a love of reading through impactful relationships between students and mentors.
  2. EARLY LITERACY: To improve students’ understanding of the fundamental building blocks of early literacy.
  3. SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT: To help students build a strong social-emotional foundation through self-awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making.

Where is ReadingPals Available?

ReadingPals is managed by The Children’s Movement of Florida, United Ways and numerous community partners. Our local partners in 20+ Florida counties help us provide in-person ReadingPals opportunities in hundreds of classrooms, child care centers and afterschool programs. Some regions also offer a virtual mentoring version of ReadingPals, accessible from any smart device.

See where ReadingPals operates

2022-2023 ReadingPals Impact

  • 19 Participating Counties
  • 500 Classrooms
  • 2,575 Students Matched
  • 1,317 Volunteer Mentors
  • 36,871 Take-Home Books Donated
  • 61,919 Reading Sessions
ReadingPals: Kids reading a book

Join ReadingPals

 

To send us a question about ReadingPals, click here.

 

 

Boy holding book

What is the Commitment?

ReadingPals volunteers are asked to commit an hour per week with their student(s) for 25+ weeks during the school year (some programs may offer a 30-minute per week or semester option). Thousands of volunteers have made this commitment, many of which return for multiple years! 

What Impact Have You Made?

Over the last decade, more than 25,000 students have received a ReadingPals mentor and a share of 470,000 donated books. This is all made possible thanks to the Barnett family’s generosity and passion for promoting literacy and early childhood development.

How Can I Get Started?

Once signed up through The Children’s Movement of Florida or local United Way/agency, volunteers are connected with a regional coordinator who will provide details about participating schools in your area, available time slots, background screening, training, and curriculum.

What Else Can I Do?

ReadingPals volunteers see the importance of early education first-hand and gain exposure to the challenges many teachers and students face in the classroom. We hope the ReadingPals experience will inspire our volunteers to become advocates alongside The Children’s Movement, promoting greater investment in Florida’s youngest children.

 

 

Celebrating 12 Years of ReadingPals

Our 2024 ReadingPals Conference & Celebration acknowledged the successes of our statewide early literacy initiative, including special recognition of our top-performing programs.  You can get a full recap, plus  watch the presentation from our keynote, journalist and producer, Emily Hanford.

Statewide Volunteer Training Module: The Science of Reading

At the start of the 2023-2024 school year, The Children’s Movement of Florida hosted our first statewide training module for ReadingPals volunteers and partners. Here, you can watch the recorded training video (60 minutes), download the presentation, and explore some of the online resources shared in the presentation.

 

Documents

2023-2024 ReadingPals Statewide Volunteer Survey

2023-2024 ReadingPals Statewide Volunteer Survey

2024-2025 ReadingPals Mentorship Pillars

ReadingPals Mentorship Pillars

2022-2023 ReadingPals Impact Report

2022-2023 ReadingPals Impact Report

ReadingPals 2018-2019 Statewide Annual Report Cover

ReadingPals 2018-2019 Statewide Annual Report

ReadingPals News

Mentoring

Want To Be Part of the Solution? Become a UWBB ReadingPal

From Tallahassee Democrat: "One hour of your time each week spent helping a child in pre-K to third grade learn to read can not only put that young boy or girl on equal footing with classmates, but it also helps ensure future academic and career success."

Mentoring

Volunteers Keep ReadingPals in the Classroom

From Citrus County Chronicle: “The grant program is measured for success. Reports show that the children who participate in ReadingPals have greater learning gains than those who don’t.”

Mentoring

ELC Needs Volunteer Readers in Clay County

From Clay Today: “Reading to young children sets the groundwork for a child’s future ability to read and learn,” said ELC Early Literacy Coordinator Joan Whitson.

Mentoring

Reading Tutors Help Prepare Early Learners For Kindergarten

From K-12 Dive: “We only get one chance to do early childhood right, so we want to be able to give children and organizations the opportunity to be able to have the best opportunities for the future.”

Mentoring

300 Volunteers Needed To Help Students Improve Reading Skills

From South Florida Sun Sentinel: “Through the ReadingPals program, volunteers connect with students from pre-K to second grade in an effort to establish a love for literacy while improving reading and comprehension competence.”

Mentoring

ReadingPals Set The Stage For Future Learners

From The Daytona Beach News-Journal: “When students read with their reading mentors, they don’t see it as work, so it is no longer stressful or overwhelming. They begin to love reading.”

Mentoring

Kids Get a Haircut and a Reading Lesson at This St. Pete Barbershop

From Tampa Bay Times: “I don’t take for granted knowing how to read. Being able to teach to those younger than me is something I’m dedicated to doing.”

Mentoring

Non-Profit Organization Seeks Volunteers to Play With Babies

From WPTV-NBC 5: “When the mothers go to work, volunteers usually help care for the babies.”

Mentoring

Couple Works With Reading Pals Program, Makes a Difference

From Citrus County Chronicle: “Norma and Russ Brondyke, who have been mentoring in Citrus County schools for the past 26 years, added the “Reading Pals” program of United Way as one of their new assignments last year.”

Mentoring

Mentors Helping With Student Confidence

From Ocala StarBanner: “It helps encourage them so that they don’t shut down. We just need people who are willing to volunteer their time to come in and sit with kids to help them.”

Mentoring

Connecting Police With Kids in Need

From South Florida Sun Sentinel: “Not only can we help guide these young people to a place where they are fully empowered to ultimately stand tall as confident adults, but we also can build stronger bonds between law enforcement and the families and communities they serve.”

Mentoring

Orlando Barbers, Fathers Make Impact on Central Florida Community

From Click Orlando: “Every year, the barbers, who are also fathers, give away free haircuts to kids as they head back to school. They also donate tons of free backpacks with paper, pencils and other school supplies.”

Mentoring

Volunteer To Help Kids Read

From Citrus County Chronicle: “One hour per week has the possibility to change a young life — and to change yours.”

Mentoring

Mentoring Matters: Mentor Uses Hip Hop To Help Teach A “Path” To Success

From CBS Miami: “The goal of ‘PATH’ is to inspire, educate and entertain, while challenging negative stereotypes and destructive behaviors often associated with hip hop culture.”

Mentoring

Head Start, Cade Museum promote male involvement

From The Gainesville Sun: “It was held for the second consecutive year to encourage fathers and other male figures in the lives of students in Head Start to help those kids understand the importance of getting a good education and being productive citizens.”

Mentoring

Clay County School raises grades with new mentor program

From Action News Jax: “Research shows that the more adults that speak into a child’s life, the more successful they’re going to be.”

Mentoring

Justice Department Gives Almost $11 Million To Support Youth Mentoring

From WMFE: “As people get into adulthood, it becomes harder and harder to change, so what we want to do is to make sure that children have great mentors, positive role models, the support that they need, examples and then just some fun quite frankly.”

Mentoring

Georgia’s best pre-K teacher shows kids success is ‘more than sports’

From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “His new mission is to show the students that being black and achieving success does not have to involve athletics or the entertainment industry.”

Mentoring

United Way’s ReadingPals Looking For Mentors

From Suwannee Democrat: “ReadingPals emphasizes the importance of early literacy as a foundation for learning; around the state, many children struggle with basic academic concepts because they never learned to read.”

Mentoring

United Way Seeks ReadingPals Volunteers

From Suwannee Democrat: “ReadingPals are paired with struggling students. The volunteer works 1-on-1 with their assigned student for the length of the program. Books and training materials are provided.”

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