Team Read seeks to extend our impact by creating leadership opportunities for youth – even those beyond high school. This year we were fortunate to work with three interns from the University of Washington’s Education, Communities and Organizations (ECO) program.
Our interns Jianyi, Xuefei, and Thomas provided more than 900 hours of support to Team Read and helped with various projects. Jianyi and Xuefei, natives of China, helped with outreach to our English Language Learner (ELL) families, registering families to participate in Team Read, and providing bi-lingual support to our Chinese-speaking families. Our interns also helped create an online multi-lingual Family Night where parents, guardians, and students learned fun strategies for building reading skills at home and picking exciting books to read.
Our intern Thomas helped develop curriculum and training for several Coach Workshops and Ambassador Meetings, including a workshop on building Leadership Skills in the workplace.
“The sense of self-growth and community engagement at Team Read was extremely enjoyable,” he said. “Through my work throughout the year, I was able to develop in many areas professionally, in general skills like time management, more specialized skills like classroom/learning space management, and in self-skills like leadership, and I really appreciate how I was able to work at Team Read to further their mission in areas I could aid in.”
The interns also helped organize and run our Team Read Library Days in June, created translated library tips for all our families, packed donated books and prizes for our readers and families, and greeted more than 150 families who attended three events held at Lake City, High Point, and New Holly Branch Libraries.
Xuefei, another Team Read intern, said, “The part I enjoyed the most was working with the team to come out with solutions and events and seeing our ideas being accepted and turning into real things.”
Team Read’s mission of supporting young readers and helping teens become great leaders resonated with her, too. “I felt really motivated knowing that my work was so meaningful and that I was supporting people … Team Read’s mission is really heartwarming, and we are making changes to make education better,” she said.
Team Read is so grateful to our interns and to the University of Washington for providing their support. Thank you!
Featured photo above: Team Read interns and staff preparing for Team Read Library Days.