Fluency Friends volunteer reading program at Michener Elementary bounces back from hiatus

ADRIAN — There was plenty of enthusiasm and encouragement around the media center last week at Michener Elementary School in Adrian.

That’s because volunteers from the Adrian community and members of the Adrian Noon Rotary Club recognized reading successes for Michener students as part of the elementary school’s end-of-the-year celebration for its Fluency Friends reading program.

This year’s edition of the program served as a bounce-back year of reading from the COVID-19 pandemic. Fluency Friends was not held for the past two years, but the Adrian community and the Noon Rotary Club continued to promote daily reading and provided books and other materials for students that encouraged improved reading habits.

It was a “joyous time” this year to get back together and read to one another, said Kathy Sielsky, reading specialist at Michener.

“The only way to get better at reading is to practice reading,” Sielsky, a 20-year reading specialist, said. “And it's nice having an adult there encouraging (the students), talking about the book with them, making connections and the kids making connections, too.”

Fluency Friends has become one of the premier collaborative programs at Michener Elementary School. It began in 2014 under the supervision of then-Adrian Superintendent Bob Behnke, who is now one of the Fluency Friends reading volunteers.

The program partners children with an adult “reading buddy” to practice and improve their reading skills while making positive connections. When the program first came about, Sielsky said, it was because elementary students were in need of extra reading practice.

Fluency Friends started with four volunteer adults. After partnering with Rotary in 2014, the number of volunteers “exploded,” she said, to as many as 21 reading volunteers. This school year saw 13 adults work with 25 students.

But not just Rotary members can help out.

Oftentimes, community members or friends of the school district hear about Fluency Friends and want to see if they can get involved in some way. Volunteers are not turned away, Sielsky said.

Once a week, volunteers come to the elementary school, 104 Dawes St., and work with a specific student or students on perfecting their reading. The students are selected from a teacher recommendation, Sielsky said. They are students who could use some extra reading practice; at least 30-45 minutes of reading is devoted each week with the help of the volunteers.

It’s a child-driven program, in which the student reads to the volunteer.

Records are kept by the volunteers on the reading progress made by the students who have a Fluency Friends library of books they can select from, depending on their reading level. Sielsky said she trains each of the volunteers about what needs to be done or focused on for each specific student. Strategy cards are utilized, and minutes of reading are logged.

“It’s the same kids the whole year. That way (the volunteers) can develop that relationship; they can watch (students) grow as a reader,” Sielsky said. “...The reality is parents are busy and they don’t always have time to hear their kids read at home.”

Chuck Chase is another of the Fluency Friends volunteers, having been a part of the program since its inception and calling it a “mutually beneficial program” for the students and the volunteers. This year, he has been working with two fourth graders, Esai Solis and Isaac McCray. Chase estimated his students read a little more than nine hours throughout the school year.

“When the kids read to us, we are sharing things,” he said. “It’s great to see them grow and the progress they make. When they start in the fall and by the time the spring program is over, they have come a long way.”

There’s been some turnover of volunteers through the years, Sielsky said, but Chase and fellow Rotarian Nate Smith are two of the longest serving Fluency Friends partners.

“They love it. Anyone can come. They just don’t want to give it up,” she said.

Annually, Adrian Noon Rotary donates $500 to Michener Elementary so that it can buy new books to give to students. Over the course of the years, the Noon Rotary Club has donated $4,500 in books that kids can take home and add to their home library, Sielsky said. At the end-of-the-year celebration, students are able to take home five books they can read over the summer so they can continue to work on their reading skills.

One of the focus points for Rotary is impacting and improving literacy efforts, according to Mary Murray, another of the original Fluency Friends members.

“We are just really strong on doing what we can to help our local kids,” she said. “If you can do an hour of reading a week, that’s doable. We just know we are here for a purpose."

The final day for Fluency Friends volunteers to visit the elementary school was Friday. The program will resume when the 2023-24 school year starts in August. Those who are interested in serving as volunteers with the program can inquire about openings by emailing Sielsky at Ksielsky@adrian.k12.mi.us.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Fluency Friends reading program at Michener Elementary bounces back