The Rotary Club of Savannah has partnered with United Way of the Coastal Empire and the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System for “Read United Buddies,” a program in which volunteers visit selected second-graders twice weekly to read with the students.

“We have partnered with United Way and the school system to develop this shared reading mentorship program and we are now recruiting the volunteers needed to make it successful. This effort continues Rotary’s long history of supporting early childhood literacy,” said Rotary Club of Savannah President Eddie DeLoach

DeLoach pointed out that at present, only 56% of Chatham County’s second graders read on grade level according to the Georgia Board of Education. Similar programs have been shown to increase reading proficiency in other communities by as much as 30%.

The program will launch in October, with volunteers visiting Otis Brock and Windsor Forest elementary schools. Volunteers are asked to make a commitment for the entire school year, spending 30 minutes twice a week at the assigned school to read with a second grader who needs support to read on grade level. Training will be provided prior to the launch of the program.

Volunteers must clear the background check performed by the public schools, a process which takes about two weeks. After that, volunteers will be trained by the school system’s literacy specialists in preparation for the program launch at the beginning of October.

The first step toward becoming a Read United Buddy is to complete the simple form at this link:http://uwce.info/ReadUnitedBuddies. For more information, contact [email protected] or 912-651-7707.