Students and Faculty Share Love of Reading at Local Elementary School

The halls of Reedy Creek Elementary buzzed with excitement earlier this year as volunteers from UNC Charlotte shared their love of reading with students.

The new literacy initiative brought UNC Charlotte’s Kappa Delta Pi (KDP) and Phi Kappa Phi (PKP) honor societies together with Reedy Creek Elementary. What resulted was the first ever Love of Reading event in which students and faculty from UNC Charlotte joined together to read to students of all grade levels.

“The main goal was to spark an interest in these kids to get them wanting to know more about reading,” said Dakota Walker, co-president of the UNC Charlotte chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, an international honor society in education. “We also want to promote their love for it, just to make sure that they’re enjoying it and they can see how much fun it can really be.”

The books used during the event were purchased and donated to each classroom by Phi Kappa Phi; the works were handpicked by the school’s literacy facilitator and teachers. The selected corresponded with Reedy Creek’s Random Acts of Kindness Week, reinforcing the school’s values of kindness and friendship.

“I hope that the students engage with the book to where they’re excited to either go read that book again, or go find another book that they want to read,” said Debra Diegman, KDP Associate Counselor.

When the event came to a close, several volunteers said they would happily do it again and would be interested in visiting different schools.

“I would honestly love to take an entire week and do events at schools all across Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools!” said Logan Ellis, a junior majoring in elementary education.

The Love of Reading Event not only touched the lives of young readers at Reedy Creek Elementary, it also reached out to the surrounding community.

“Creating a connection with the community is something we always want to give back in some way, so this was a special way of being able to do that,” said Lauren Ducoste, PKP co-Vice President and student officer.

The Love of Reading event will be followed by a book drive starting March 24th also sponsored by Phi Kappa Phi and Kappa Delta Pi. Any donations will go to the students and classrooms at Reedy Creek Elementary School. Additional information on the book drive will be available in the coming weeks.

by: Sydney Davis, communications intern