Charlottesville Book Club Helps 51 Students Close Reading Gaps

Fifty-one elementary students in Charlottesville are catching up on years of missed learning, thanks to volunteers who give up their lunch breaks twice a week to read together.

The We Lit book club meets every Tuesday and Thursday at Summit Elementary School, pairing small groups of third, fourth, and fifth graders with volunteer readers. Most of these fifth graders were born just before COVID-19 hit, meaning their earliest school years happened through screens instead of in classrooms.

"It just doesn't feel the same as sitting down together in person," said Stacy Reedal, the literacy coordinator for Charlottesville City Schools. When you're teaching through a screen, there's a missing piece of connection that makes real learning harder.

The program started last year with just 16 students as a partnership between Charlottesville's youth opportunity coordinator Juanika Howard and the school division. This year, it's grown to 51 participating students grouped by reading level.

The formula is simple but powerful. Students bring their lunch trays, settle in with their assigned volunteer, and read aloud from books selected by reading specialists. Then they talk about what they just read, connecting stories to their own lives.

"They feel seen and heard," Howard said. "I want to come back and talk to this lady because she listened to me talk about my dog."

Many volunteers are retired educators who bring what they call a "grandmother flavor" to the sessions. That warmth helps students feel comfortable asking questions about words they don't understand or ideas that confuse them.

The Ripple Effect

The results speak for themselves. At least 60% of last year's participants showed measurable growth in their reading based on standardized assessment scores.

But the impact reaches beyond test scores. After reading a book about ice skating, the club organized a family roller skating night at Carver Recreation Center with pizza. Some kids had never been on skates before, and volunteers helped guide them around the rink alongside their families, teachers, and school administrators.

"Some of the kids had never been on skates before, and they had so much fun," said volunteer Debra Fields.

Assistant Principal Pamela Davis said the timing of the program felt like "the heavens dropped down." Her students carry the world in their phones, she explained, but books offer a different avenue to learning that helps build critical thinking skills.

The program is now looking for more volunteers, especially men, to expand its reach. Families have told Howard they love seeing their children excited about reading again and want more programs like this available.

Building strong literacy skills in elementary school sets the foundation for everything that follows, making programs like We Lit essential for helping this generation recover what the pandemic took away.