The High Holy Days just offered a time to pause, reflect, and think about the year ahead – how to do better, how to give more, and, hopefully, how to make a difference.
Now it’s time to get busy!
This is one of Be A Reader (BeAR) Literacy Project’s favorite times of the year. These early fall days are when mentors are matched with schools, teachers choose their second graders, books and supplies are being gathered, and mentors prepare to head back into classrooms across Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
For 27 years, BeAR mentors have spent one hour a week reading one-on-one with second-grade students in local Title I schools. Mentors don’t need to be a teacher or a reading expert – they just need a little patience, a love for kids, and a willingness to show up.
To a child, having someone walk through that school door every week just for them says, “You matter! I believe in you! I’m excited to see you!” That’s a pretty big message packed into one little hour.
The High Holy Days may be over, but the things reflected on don’t have to be. Now, they can be carried into the new year and put into action.
It might not be possible to change the entire world, but it certainly is possible to change someone’s little corner of it.
For one second grader, one hour a week is a wonderful place to start.
To learn more about BeAR, contact Robin Ford at United Jewish Federation of Tidewater at 757-321-2304 or rford@ujft.org.