Kindergarteners at Keeling Elementary are participating in Literacy Connects' Reading Seeder Kinder Pilot Program.
Twice a week volunteers help kindergartners learn to read by playing educational games and reading books for 30 minutes.
"As a whole, they were seeing kids coming in who didn't have exposure to books, who didn't know their ABC's, didn't know their letters sounds, weren't prepared to come in and start learning," said Lisa O'Meara, a Reading Seed's Program Coordinator.
This program has helped students increase their reading by 220%.
Kindergarteners at Keeling Elementary show 220% increase in reading thanks to a pilot program.My story at 5pm @kgun9 pic.twitter.com/ag6yfvFLu4
— Priscilla KGUN9 (@PriscillaCasper) November 1, 2016
"Teachers come to me and say these kids are reading at levels I have never seen before and what I know as a reader what that means for their future, it's everything," said O'Meara.
About 70 percent of students are performing above benchmark standards.
"That just makes me want to cry happy tears because it's so awesome because I was there on the first day when they couldn't write their name," said Ms. Victoria, a Kindergartener teacher.
She says all her students call themselves readers.
O'Meara hopes to have this program in every Pima County Elementary School in the future.
