CMS has launched a new literacy initiative, North Star Reading Partners, that focuses in particular on 3rd and 7th graders. Superintendent Ann Clark has asked every CMS employee to spend an hour a week serving as a mentor and working on reading skills with a student in one of these grades. The goal is to have every 3rd grader (or 7th grader) reading on grade level by the end of the school year. CIS is following CMS' lead, and has asked every CIS employee to participate in the North Star initiative,
too.
Volunteers are also needed in order to reach every student who needs a mentor! Training and a series of Lesson Plans are provided. Visit the
CMS North Star website for more information, then contact our Volunteer Coordinator,
Courtney Peterson, and she will match you with a student!
Not many can claim this accomplishment - one of CIS-Charlotte's first volunteers who began tutoring students in 1986, our first year in operation - and who has continued to tutor and mentor CIS students for the 30 years since then! That amazing volunteer would be Mike Munao, who is currently volunteering at Nathaniel Alexander Elementary, where he has been tutoring CIS students since the school opened in 1996. Before Nathaniel Alexander, he volunteered with CIS at Cochrane Junior High. Mike still has the original letter he received from CIS in 1986, welcoming him as a volunteer.
