Seward High School provides a lot of different opportunities for extracurricular activities. One of which is the teen reading program supervised by Ms. Swander and seniors Stella Dow and Robin Cronin. Every Friday, students from all grade levels make their way down to Seward Elementary School to read to K–5th graders.

 Each week, teen readers are assigned 1-2 classrooms to read to. Students are usually paired with a partner, making it easier to navigate. Once signed in at the elementary office, teen readers go to the library and pick out a handful of books to read in their assigned classrooms.

After selecting books, teen reader’s then head over to the classrooms and begin reading to students. Senior Stella Dow, who has taken part in teen reading for all four years of high school, says one her favorite parts of reading to the elementary students is “when some of the kids give me little gifts like bracelets they make and sometimes snacks from their snack time.” 

Senior Trevor Guernsey joined the teen readers program for his last year of high school. He says, “It’s inspiring to see all the little kids’ enjoyment of literature.”

Sophomore Emily Anger’s second year of teen readers has had a lot of experience reading in classrooms and explains how she “loves watching the kids get excited about the different books she chooses.” One of the most popular books that seems to be a crowd favorite among all grade levels is Pete the Cat.

The teen reading program gives high school students the opportunity to develop many skills, such as reading aloud, working with kids, and time management. Furthermore, one aspect that this program provides is volunteer hours. This is something that high school students can put on their resume and use as an example for volunteer projects. If you are interested or want any more information on the teen reading program, talk to Ms. Swander.