Just one hour a week can make a difference in a child’s life

HISD’s Read Houston Read program is kicking off for the 2016-17 school year, and volunteers are needed once a week to read to a first-grade student — either in person or online.

The goal of Read Houston Read, which is in its third year, is to instill a love of reading in children, while giving Houstonians an opportunity to give back to their community. The program is part of the district’s Literacy by 3 movement, which aims to have all students reading at or above grade level by the end of third grade.

HISD has identified nearly 450 first-grade classrooms at 75 schools where children are in need of a mentor who can provide one-on-one support. Volunteers are asked to read to their assigned first-graders for 30 to 60 minutes, once a week, either in person or over the Internet via online conferencing.

Volunteers are required to pass a background check and attend a training session, which is online. From there, they can pick a participating school and schedule weekly sessions with a student. Click here to see a list of participating schools.  Ready to sign up and get a background check?  Click here to register in Connect 4 Literacy.

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