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West Creek ES Staff and Students: We’re West Creek Elementary, and you are watching Mondays with Maria. 

Announcer: Presented by Addition Financial Credit Union. Here's OCPS Superintendent Dr. Maria Vazquez.

Dr. Vazquez: Hi everyone. Thank you for that wonderful introduction. Read To Succeed is 25 years old. For 25 years, this program has been helping students gain essential reading skills, things like vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. Joining me today are Elizabeth Conrad and Scott Howat. Elizabeth is a Senior Administrator with our Read to Succeed team, and Scott is, has been a Read to Succeed volunteer for many years, and on top of being our Chief Communications Officer, is the president of the foundation. Thank you both for being here. 
Elizabeth Conrad and Scott Howat: Thank you for having us. It's great to be here.

Dr. Vazquez: Great to, this is such a great program. So nearly 5,000 students a year are part of the Read to Succeed program. So Elizabeth, how does the program work?

Elizabeth Conrad, Senior Administrator: Well, thank you so much, Dr. Vazquez, for having me on to share the story about Read to Succeed. I'd like to start by saying that Read to Succeed started 25 years ago because we had an AmeriCorps Vista service model. And we looked at the community engagement of Junior Achievement. Combining that gave us the foundation for this program. We focused on second graders because we knew that that's a critical age. Yes, it is. And we could make the most gains and the most impact with the second graders. So Read To Succeed. The number two in Read to Succeed is focusing on those second graders. So it works because we bring in folks from the community who absolutely are passionate about helping children and especially with reading skills, and we match them up with a scholar. So every week they go into our schools to meet with their student. The student gets so excited, they can't wait for whichever day of the week it is. Likewise, the volunteer looks forward to that special time with their student.

Dr. Vazquez: So, Scott, I know how much you love being a Read to Succeed volunteer. There are times when I'll need something, and I'll walk over, and your assistant says, “No, no, he's out at Rock Lake.” He's volunteering. So I know that that is something near and dear to your heart. So it's, tell us, what does a typical tutoring session look like?

Scott Howat, Chief Communications Officer: Well, you know, a tutoring session, you start off, you meet your scholar, you learn about them and the things that they like to do, their family. And after that, it really is going through a series of books, a book a day, essentially every time you meet with them. And I meet with my scholar every Tuesday at lunch. So if you come by my office on Tuesdays at lunch, I will be with my scholar. And I've been doing it for eight years, and it's really an amazing opportunity to really connect with a student and teach them how to read, being part of that journey.

Dr. Vazquez: So Elizabeth, the program not only produces results in reading, but the child gets the experience of having a significant adult in their life, another one that really cares about their success. So, really a win-win. A win for the student. And a win for the volunteer.

Elizabeth Conrad: Absolutely. yes. So that relationship builds over time. And you might say, Gosh, just once a week, how does that work? But it is amazing. You have to try it to believe it. I hear it all the time. And over the course, they, you know, they're building that relationship, building the trust. They become more confident with their reading skills, but also more confident in the classroom. And we hear this from the teachers all the time. The comments are something very similar to, I know it was Read to Succeed, but this student was so quiet in the beginning, and now they're raising their hand and they want to read out loud, and they're participating more. So it really does come full circle.

Scott Howat: Really does.

Dr. Vazquez: Yeah. I heard the other day, I was walking in, and I ran into a Read to Succeed volunteer, and she was just sharing how much she looks forward to it. She's a retired employee and was beaming about how she has this wonderful opportunity to impact our children. So, you, Elizabeth, you talked to us a little bit about where it began, but what we haven't mentioned is that this really started as one of the projects, from the foundation. So, Scott, the president of the Foundation, did you want to speak to us about how this evolved?

Scott Howat: It, you know, it, it is a 25-year flagship program by the foundation. It was originally run by the foundation for the first 16 years. And then with a shift in governance, we moved the program over to the teaching and learning side of the house, knowing that the foundation was going to support it financially and make sure it grew. But knowing that the support for the staff and for Elizabeth would come from the academic side of the house, that we were getting all of those resources that we needed for our children to be successful. It's been really amazing to see it grow over time. We've raised over $3 million. For the program, including a match of a million dollars from the state. And so it's something that over that time period has been invaluable. And I think, you know, as long as we continue through the foundation to find amazing donors, we have the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation. Disney is a, is a, is a donor and has been throughout the years. We have a number of foundations and individuals who give to the program. So, it really is about our donors and the partnerships like Wells Fargo that would come forward and help us make this program happen.

Dr. Vazquez: Yeah. We're so fortunate that our community is filled with individuals and organizations that support OCPS. So, Elizabeth, someone's watching, and they go, you know what? I think, I think I can do that. How do they sign up to be a volunteer?

Elizabeth Conrad: Yes, they absolutely can sign up to be a volunteer. They can go to the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools' website. They can go to OCPS.net. They can look on there, and they'll find the volunteer tab. They do need to submit an Additions application. And when they're doing their application, they're going to select the “Read to Succeed” opportunity. From that, we will get their inquiry, and we will respond with an email so they can sign up for a one-hour training session with us. And that's really all it requires. Once they complete that training and their background check clears, then we will match them up with a student at a school of their choice.

Dr. Vazquez: That's wonderful. Easy.

Scott Howat: And it can happen anytime throughout the year, right? I mean, they can do it at any time. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if it's later in the fall or early next spring. 

Elizabeth Conrad: It could be their New Year's resolution. That's totally fine. So all the way up to Spring Break.

Dr. Vazquez: Thank you both for being here and sharing how they can get involved in this wonderful program. 

Elizabeth Conrad: Thank you very much.

Dr. Vazquez: Thank you all for watching. Don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe. We'll have more on our podcast. Just go to wherever you get your podcast and search for Monday's Victoria. Have a great week.

West Creek ES Staff and Students: But wait, here's the slice of positivity.

Patricia Rawlings, Lakeview MS Media Specialist: Today we're having a reading with rabbits, and it's a celebration of entering your Bean Stack minutes. And we've had the students who've read the most minutes come and eat pizza and sit and be quiet and just read, because that's something that they obviously like to do if they're putting their minutes in Beans Stack.

Hannah, Lakeview MS Student: I was very surprised, and I thought it was very cruel because you don't usually get to read with a rabbit on a normal day.

Johan, Lakeview MS Student: I just finished The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.

Patricia Rawlings, Lakeview MS Media Specialist: Really?

Johan, Lakeview MS Student: I love reading because it just soothes me. It calms me. It just relaxes me. No matter what situation I am in, I can just open a book and start reading.

Patricia Rawlings, Lakeview MS Media Specialist: When I started as the media specialist here, I knew about the FFA and the whole agriculture department here. And whenever I was over there, I saw the rabbits and the chickens and everything else. And reading with rabbits with the R'S just jumped out at me because roosters don't work.

Johan, Lakeview MS Student: Reading has helped me with my vocabulary, my grammar, because I'm discovering new words in the books that I don't know. So, I'll just go on my laptop and search what it means, and I'll understand. So, reading and my everyday life have helped. My grammar and my vocabulary increased a lot.

Patricia Rawlings, Lakeview MS Media Specialist: My goal is to try and help every student try to find that love to read because it can really take you places in the world beyond here, beyond Orlando, beyond Winter Garden, beyond anything that you know I've seen.

Announcer: For an extended conversation on today's topic. Listen to the Mondays with Maria podcast. Available wherever you get your podcasts. Mondays with Maria is presented by Addition Financial Credit Union. Count us in for every step of your financial journey. Learn more at AdditionFi.com. For more OCPs news and information, visit TheSlice.OCPS.net. I'm your announcer. Emily Hannon, a student at Audubon Park School. Thanks for watching, and have a great week.