District seeks 300 volunteers for R.E.A.L. Men Read

One of the book packets given to volunteer readers at Lansdowne Elementary School, 366 Redding Rd. in Lexington, Ky., Tuesday, October 17, 2017. Fayette County Public Schools held a news conference at the school to announce a new initiative called R.E.A.L. (Read. Excel. Achieve. Lead.) to encourage men to read in elementary school classrooms across the community. Lansdowne started their program in September and they already have more than 36 men involved. The district needs 300 men to volunteer for this program. Charles Bertram cbertram@herald-leader.com

Fayette County Public Schools has launched a read-aloud mentoring program that aims to pair 300 community volunteers once a month with K-5 classrooms in 29 participating schools.

R.E.A.L., a seven-month program from the children’s publishing, education and media company, Scholastic, stands for “Read, Excel, Achieve, Lead.” R.E.A.L. provides mentoring tools and literacy resources to foster a life-long love of reading, including free, grade-appropriate books for the children to take home each month.

First-year funding for the initiative comes from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust. To volunteer, go to Fcps.net/give10 and complete the application and interest/availability survey. For questions, contact Christian Adair in the district’s Office of Educating Boys of Color, 859-381-4613.

This story was originally published October 24, 2017 at 5:52 AM with the headline "District seeks 300 volunteers for R.E.A.L. Men Read."

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