The Leading for Reading program is an after-school high school internship opportunity for sophomores and juniors to get involved in their community and develop leadership skills through service. By partnering with Children’s Book Bank, students from around the community will make a tangible, meaningful impact by addressing one of the most significant obstacles to literacy development among low-income families – the scarcity of books in the home. This is a great opportunity to strengthen a college resume by building hands-on leadership skills.
The cohort of ten selected student leaders will meet with a community mentor on twelve Thursday afternoons from 4-6 pm at Children’s Book Bank (located at 1728 NE Glisan) over the course of five months, beginning in January, 2011. During these meetings, students will have an opportunity to:
- explore the deeper issues of childhood poverty, its effect on literacy development, and the connection between literacy and school success
- learn about leadership and community engagement
- explore the inner workings of this local non-profit organization
- coordinate and lead a volunteer event
- leverage resources from the community to benefit kids in need
- develop/hone goal-setting and organizational skills
- discover what it takes to be an agent for change.
This hands-on leadership experience will allow students to contribute and challenge themselves to make a true difference in the literacy development of young children in Portland. Upon completion of the program, each student will have led a group of volunteers, organized a book drive in his/her own community, and will have planned and run a grassroots fundraising event.
The approximate total time commitment is 40 hours of service. Of these, the 12 scheduled sessions (please review the list of meeting dates) require 24 hours, while the three fun independent projects will take about 16 hours to complete.
Requirements - 2011
You’ll need to:
Be a sophomore or junior
Have a minimum 3.0 GPA
Have a good attendance record at school
Your commitment is to:
Be on time and participate in all program sessions
Be responsible for your own transportation to/from meeting sites
Be drug/alcohol free
Our 2011 group has already been selected. Check back for future deadlines:
All forms are available at www.childrensbookbank.org and can be filled out and submitted electronically. Only complete applications will be considered.
2011 Meeting Dates:
For all dates, the meeting time is 4pm – 6pm
Location: Children’s Book Bank – 1728 NE Glisan, PDX 97232
- January 6
- January 20
- Field trip to deliver books: date/time TBA
- February 3
- Student pairs will schedule the 5th meeting with the program leader
- February 24
- March 10
- March 17
- March 31
- April 14
- May 12
- May 19: Celebration, families welcome; location TBA
For questions, please send an e-mail to info@childrensbookbank.org