Big Brothers Big Sisters of St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee Counties has partnered with the Vero Beach Theatre Guild to combine space with education. Each year, the BBBS Reads program of BBBS, hires a new corps of members to participate in a literacy tutoring program that provides students with one-to-one tutoring. Training for the program is hosted in August and finding a space to train 50+ people can be a difficult feat. This year, the Vero Beach Theatre Guild stepped up to the plate and is allowing BBBS to use their facilities to train their corps!
BBBS Reads serves 500+ students in Title One schools each year and has a team of over 50 Reads members. Each member serves a caseload of 10-12 students. Students are referred to the program by school professionals based on their iReady scores and need for literacy skill improvement. BBBS Reads Members see students in three thirty minute sessions per week for a total of 90 minutes. Not only do members work with students on their literacy skills but they also help improve their social/emotional skills as well.
The BBBS extends it gratitude to the Vero Beach Theatre Guild for recognizing the Reads initiative and the need to enhance the literacy skills of their students within the community and are helping them to facilitate it efficiently.