This morning, volunteers from Rotary Club of Birmingham, including Board Member Mary Boehm, read to pre-K scholars at Barrett Elementary School, marking the return of the Rotary Reads program

“It was so much fun to be with those kids today,” said Boehm.”They were so engaged!”

In addition to Barrett, Rotary Reads visited Avondale Elementary School, Richard Arrington Elementary School and Charles A. Brown Elementary School this morning as part of the program’s kickoff for the school year.

In its second year, the Rotary Reads is a partnership between Rotary Club and United Way of Central Alabama’s Success By 6. The initiative sent volunteer Rotary Club members to all 50 pre-K classrooms in 27 schools. 

“They love having readers visit their classrooms,” said La’Terika Smith, Early Learning Curriculum Support at Birmingham City Schools. “The students look forward to the visits, and it brings so much joy and enrichment to the day.”

This year, volunteers will read “The Very Impatient Caterpillar” by Ross Burach and each scholar will receive a copy for their home libraries. Last year’s selection was “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive” by Mo Willems.