SAYL: February Newsletter

“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

A few weeks ago, we celebrated the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. on the occasion of his birthday, so it is only fitting that we reflect on his thoughts about how we can and should be serving our community for the common good of all. The COVID-19 pandemic, that we are still negotiating our way through, severely impacted nearly every nonprofit organization that relies on volunteers. It is they who provide much needed services that our already strained social system either supplies in an abbreviated way or not at all due to the extreme cost needed to do so. In the early stages of the pandemic people were justifiably terrified by the unknown nature of the virus. Much controversy surrounded the issue of how best to prevent the spread of the disease but most agreed that limiting contact was essential. Fast forward, and now more is known about the nature of the beast and medical protocols have been discovered to “manage” most of the horrible outcomes. Unfortunately, though, as a society, we have become increasingly isolated as individuals. In our community, a once vibrant volunteer core has been decimated.

We must find a way to reconnect to those souls in the community that have hearts full of grace and understand the need for a greater good through service. At San Antonio Youth Literacy, we have never underestimated the capacity of our great volunteers to change the futures of children across the community. By being another caring adult in our students’ lives, Reading Buddies provide the support to help our students realize their greatest potential and gain self-worth.

We currently reach over 4,000 individuals through this newsletter. We need each and every one of you to realize greatness through service. If you were a Reading Buddy rejoin us and reach out to someone you know to become a Reading Buddy as well. Let’s all imagine the possibilities for our future!

Volunteer Spotlight

Meet Rhonda Chavez, a new Reading Buddy who came on-board this academic year. As a military veteran, she wanted to continue giving back to the community in a different way. That is where San Antonio Youth Literacy stepped in. From the beginning (Reading Buddy Training), Rhonda showed much excitement by asking many questions of the program itself. She was quite enthusiastic and ready to go by the end of the training! With profound love toward children, Rhonda looks forward every week to see her two students and "help them develop skills, build self-esteem and encourage them to enjoy reading as well." Although she has only been with the program a short while, she has showcased ideal qualities of a humanitarian and most importantly a Reading Buddy: eager, trustworthy, and loyal. "The students I work with are very interested in reading. I love watching them get excited when they learn new words and escape into the story they are reading. And they have opened up so much since our first session!" says Rhonda. Of course, there will be times when students will not want to read (and that's okay). However, with much patience the magic will happen! Like Rhonda states, "both of my students have moved up one reading level during the short time I've worked with them. I know they will be moving up on a consistent basis which is amazing to be apart of." Reading Buddies like most of you are a blessing in disguise not only by acting as a tutor, but as a friend, cheerleader, and a mentor. For that, we cannot thank you all enough.

Rhonda—Thank you for your service and continuing to give back to the community by deliberately choosing to be a Reading Buddy with San Antonio Youth Literacy!

Events

Reading Buddy Training

We're so excited to host our second Reading Buddy Training since the Covid pandemic. While attempting to survive through the times of hardship, SAYL decided to continue training sessions with a different approach– via zoom. Now, that we are slowly transitioning to life pre-pandemic we are hosting in-person trainings for new volunteers. If you happen to know anyone who would like to become a Reading Buddy, please email kirk.fallin@sayl.org

Date: March 2nd

Location: Café College

131 El Paso St

San Antonio, TX 78204

Time: 11:30am-1:00pm

School Spotlight

This year, we would like to spotlight Jackson Keller Elementary. Since the extension of the Reading Buddy program towards NEISD, Jackson Keller has long been an Elementary School that has stood side by side with San Antonio Youth Literacy. Recently, there has been a change in campus coordinators and we are delighted to introduce Tori Manley as our new point of contact. "Jackson Keller wanted to be involved with the Reading Buddy program because reading is the basic foundation to learning not only in literacy but all content areas. This program gives our students an extra opportunity to build the love for reading as well as exercise their brain when reading, increase communication skills, and their memory" states Manley. She adds, "Students are really looking forward to seeing their Reading Buddy each week. The students are becoming more confident in their reading abilities which is AMAZING!! The progress is also showing in the classroom as well."

Thank you Jackson Keller for always sticking with us and allowing San Antonio Youth Literacy to be a part of such a wonderful Elementary School!

Donor Spotlight

Big thank you to the San Antonio Choral Society. They selected San Antonio Youth Literacy as their beneficiary from their Handel’s Messiah production– an inspiring and powerful concert.

We are always grateful for the support and generous donations from our community.

Thank you!

Thank you to each and every one of you for being a part of the San Antonio Youth Literacy family!

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