Craig Hendrick

School

Perry Meridian 6th Grade Academy

Grant Title

And They Kept Coming Back!

Synopsis

Thanks to an Education Foundation grant in the previous year, we were able to establish a “Guys Read” program encouraging boys to read. Data showed our boys were significantly behind our girls in passing Language Arts ISTEP. A successful “Guys Read” year ended, a new group of students started the school year, and the alumni kept coming back! Even though the boys attend a different school, they still arrive early to school once a week to attend the “Guys Read” meeting. This is exciting momentum in reading that I hope to build upon. An unexpected outcome came from the original “Guys Reads” members. In addition to attending school early once a week and reading several novels, they formed a bond with each other. The students encouraged each other while reading, and it carried over outside of the classroom. Now that these students are in a different school building and still return once a week to read, a whole new opportunity has arisen. They can be the positive role models that my current students need. Those readers that once needed a mentor have become one themselves.

Goals

• Encourage reading in our historically struggling boy population
• Develop a mentorship that is both teacher-to-student and student-to-student and bridges the changing of school buildings