Felicity Wray and Brenda Slade work with young students (at Briarwood Academy) who are having struggles in reading. It’s an after school program they started last year called Bookworms.

The students are given a snack when they arrive, which Wray and Slade provide, purchased with their own money. At the end of the program, they give the children a “graduation” party, again, using their own funds.

They work extremely hard with these students, helping them to sound out words and improve their study habits.

The duo gives out incentives and rewards when the students do a good job. They even throw a holiday party complete with reading-focused gifts, of course. It wasn’t long before children were begging to be selected to participate in the Bookworms program!

In the beginning, the teachers nominated a child to participate. This year, they decided to focus only on 3rd graders to help them pass their EOGs.

All of the students in this program increased their reading scores by several points.

“I have been an avid reader all my life,” said Wray. “Reading is open to all, with no discrimination. Once that light bulb moment happens, any person can achieve absolutely anything they wish for. These children are all absolutely amazing, and have endless potential if only they can find their own motivation.”
The dedication of these two women is unbelievable. Not only did they recruit other adults to work four days a week with these children after school, they put additional effort into explaining the importance of this effort to families and made sure each child had a way home just so that they could participate.
Briarwood Academy is a Title 1 school with limited resources and support. Wray and Slade also stepped up to the plate to organize a strong PTSA, getting more families to take an active role in the lives of their children.