When Anoushka Shesh was in kindergarten, she struggled to learn how to read. She had fallen behind, and to help, her mother brought her to their local library in Illinois, where Illinois State University students volunteered each week to read with younger kids and work on early literacy skills.
Ten years later, as a freshman at Arlington High School, Shesh recalled just how meaningful that experience was. She shared it with friend and fellow classmate Maya Alajaji, and the pair decided to try launching a similar program in Arlington. “We knew that with Covid, a lot of kids were feeling less comfortable with reading,” Shesh said. They also saw the initiative as a way to build a bridge between two different groups of students who might not otherwise have a reason to connect with each other. She and Alajaji approached Robbins Library with their idea, and Reading Buddies was born in the winter of 2024.
Now in their junior year at AHS, Shesh and Alajaji continue to grow and expand the program. Each week, an active network of roughly 40 AHS students volunteer to meet with elementary age students during drop-in sessions on multiple days at Robbins Library to practice reading skills. And last spring, with support from a $300 Arlington Education Foundation Club Grant, Reading Buddies held its first Spring into Reading event at the high school, hosting 40-50 preschool and elementary students and their families for an afternoon of read-alouds, face painting, book-themed raffles and other fun activities to encourage literacy.
“We wanted it to be something that people in Arlington could come together for,” Alajaji said. The event was so successful that Reading Buddies has held two more similar events this school year — a Fall into Reading event and a second annual Spring into Reading this spring. This year, they incorporated a book drive/sale to help raise funds to donate to Cradle to Crayons.
“We created little hand puppets that the kids could decorate, and we bought puzzle pieces that the kids could draw on that we want to assemble into a big mural,” Alajaji said. “All of the interactive stations and craft ideas really worked out, and kids seemed to enjoy them,” Shesh added.
The program has been a win for AHS students, who receive volunteer hours to satisfy both school and National Honor Society requirements. But seeing the lasting impact on the younger students they work with has been the most rewarding, Shesh and Alajaji said. “It builds that meaningful connection between a high schooler and a kid, seeing them every week,” Shesh said. “On Wednesdays, we now have a preschool that comes in because they know specifically that Reading Buddies is there on Wednesdays. The volunteers split off to read to groups of them. They are very cute.”
They are grateful to AEF for its support. The AEF Club Grant provided a springboard to expand their program in a way they might not otherwise have been able to, Shesh and Alajaji said. The process of applying for the grant helped them to refine and organize their plans because they had to lay out exactly how they would spend the money, Shesh said. Later, as they were launching the event, they would refer back to their grant application to remind themselves of those specific plans.
“It really empowers clubs to think outside of the box, and allows them to host events like Spring into Reading that might require more funds that students don’t usually have access to,” Alajaji said, adding that the grant “allows students to be creative and help their ideas come to life, without the help of adults, which teaches a lot of independence.”
Next year, Alajaji and Shesh will be seniors and they are already making plans to ensure that Reading Buddies continues past their tenure at the high school. They’ve identified two younger AHS students who have been consistent participants and who are committed to shadowing Shesh and Alajaji over the next year, with the hopes of becoming the new leaders once Shesh and Alajaji graduate.
