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Garner Educational Foundation thanks SCOR volunteers

By Sharron Gibson
Education Editor

Among the many programs the Garner Educational Foundation has in place for area schools, the Schools and Communities Organized to Read program requires some of the most dedicated volunteers.

Garner Police Department Deputy Chief Eric Copeland reads with his second-grader Keisean Woodard from Creech Road Elementary School. SHARRON GIBSON, GCNT

Thankfully, the Garner area is home to many dedicated people.

Under the direction of Martha Liles, SCOR matches volunteer readers with second-grade students in area elementary schools. Volunteers visit the schools every week to spend half an hour reading with their special students.

Since the program’s inception in 2000, roughly 100 children each year have been matched with reading buddies. Many of these buddies are town of Garner employees.

Gayle Hines, GEF chairperson, credits the success of the SCOR program to the leadership of Liles and to her staff of volunteers. Liles, who has been involved in SCOR since the beginning of the program and who was a board member when the program was established, has been a reading buddy. Liles is GEF’s only contractor, coordinating all of the volunteers needed to keep the program running.

“I can’t tell you how impressed I am with SCOR under Martha Liles’ leadership,” Hines said. “I also would like to comment on the number of town of Garner employees who participate. Their participation provides a good foundation.”

The volunteers are rewarded, too

Betty Baker, finance specialist for the town, is one of the reading buddies whom Liles recruited.

“Reading with my second grader has truly been a rewarding experience,” Baker said. “To see her gain confidence in her reading ability was a great reward. She knew that I would encourage her, reward her and cheer her on for her efforts. Sometimes we did not want to put the book down!”

Another volunteer is Garner Police Deputy Chief Eric Copeland. Copeland learned of SCOR through the Garner Mid-Day Rotary Club in 2002 and has been reading with second graders ever since. He was so impressed by the program that he has become a member of GEF.

Copeland is thankful that the town supports the reading program.

“The Town of Garner, which has 15 to 20 SCOR volunteers, allows employees to use work time to volunteer for SCOR,” he said. “The time required per student, 30 minutes a week, is a small amount of time out of your day; and the payback is ten-fold.

“It also shows them the police in a good light,” Copeland said. As a police officer, he uses the time spent with his young readers to talk about safety issues as well. He makes an effort to get to know the young readers and has them memorize their addresses and phone numbers – in case they should ever become lost.

His efforts are appreciated in the schools.

“This is the second year that Eric Copeland has been a reader for a student in my class,” said Shawna Scipione, second grade teacher at Creech Road Elementary School. “And he is great! [The students] always love that they get to hang out with a real cop.

“Most of [the students] really enjoy having someone to listen to them read and just hang out with outside of class once a week,” she said. “The volunteers are very supportive and reliable, hardly ever missing a week. I think it makes our students feel valued as learners and also helps them to value reading.”

Copeland argues that the students are not the only people who benefit from the program.

“I think if you ask any of the SCOR volunteers, they would all agree that they are rewarded in the fact that they are helping someone improve on a most valuable skill, the skill to read,” he said.

Help shape Garner’s future

GEF ends each school year by hosting a luncheon to thank the SCOR volunteers. At this year’s luncheon Wednesday, June 3, GEF also celebrated the end of the year by donating an age-appropriate dictionary to each volunteer to give to their second graders. Copeland said he always writes a personal note of encouragement on the inside cover of the dictionary before giving it to his buddies.

“I tell them that ‘[b]ooks are the doors to your future; open as many as you can!’” he said.

Although many area school children have a reading buddy each year, there are always more students who could benefit from the program. The GEF Web site, ci.garner.nc.us/GEF, provides more information on volunteer opportunities.

“I encourage anyone interested in the program to explore the possibility of volunteering,” Baker said. “It is truly worth it!”

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