Buddy Readers

Spiritus Christi’s Buddy Readers Ministry pairs adult volunteers with young students to instill a love of reading and provide opportunities to practice becoming more fluent readers.

Through this ministry our Little Buddies (students in grades K – 4):

• Build confidence by receiving both support and encouragement from the Adult Buddies;
• Discover the classic children’s stories, new works by racially diverse authors,  and play language activities and games;
• Develop their skills in both reading and expression.

Program Details

The Buddy Readers program during the 2023-2024 school year will be offered both in person at three schools and remotely via Zoom meetings.

In addition to our community Adult Buddy volunteers, we are pleased to include Service Scholars and First-Generation Scholars from St. John Fisher College as well as students from the University of Rochester.  All volunteers bring their enthusiasm for reading and compassion for the children we work with.  

We work collaboratively to create an emotionally safe and non-judgmental space.  This requires patience along with tremendous faith in our buddies’ abilities, knowing that they can and will become excellent readers, strong students, and, ultimately, wonderful, and caring adults themselves.  This is what makes Buddy Readers a ministry from the church, not just a tutoring program.

RECENT NEWS

Volunteers Being Accepted for 2023-2024 School Year: Please click HERE to complete your application by September 5th.

Job Opening: Operations Manager. Stipend available. Start date: end of August. Duties include communications with families, volunteers, teachers, administrators; day-to-day management of in-person and virtual environments; supervision of site managers & online facilitators; support of growth. Requirements: 1) love of children and reading! 2) strong organizational abilities 3) background in teaching 4) familiarity with Buddy Readers and 5) the Rochester City School District. Please contact Susan Weiss.

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