April Student Organization of the Month: READ Alabama

By: Emily Dowdell

             READ Alabama is one of those organizations that truly shows how a little initiative and a jump start from the university can grow into something huge. According to the organization’s founder, Colby Leopard, READ Alabama “got off the ground quickly and has not stopped growing.” READ Alabama is a volunteer organization run through the Honors College, in which UA students can help improve reading and communication skills in local, at-risk elementary and middle schools.
            The organization’s roots lie in a service-learning course called Alabama Action, which Leopard participated in prior to and during his freshman year. Leopard and his fellow volunteers moved in a week before classes and participated in a service project planned by upperclassmen at a local elementary school. Leopard enjoyed building relationships with other honors students and volunteered to become a student leader the following year. This next project dealt with turning the elementary school library into a cool reading environment that would encourage the students to read. Through these projects, Leopard got to know the Hillcrest Middle School library very well, began to investigate the problems they encountered, and asked what he could do to help. Thus, the idea for READ Alabama was born.
            Eventually, Leopard created a program in which UA students create a one on one, mentor based relationship with an elementary or middle school student. Students sign up at the beginning of the semester and tutor a minimum of one hour a week. Throughout the semester, tutors work with the same student, and according to Leopard, this relationship is equally as important as the actual work the tutors do. Sustainability is important to Leopard, so while he still remains as an active part of the organization, he no longer holds the position of executive director, in hope that the organization will long outlive his time here at UA.
            Interested students can visit the Facebook page and click the volunteer sign up link, where they will sign up through a Google doc. They can also email readala@gmail.com for more information. READ Alabama is constantly adding new schools to their program, and will need volunteers to sign up for those schools. Currently READ Alabama runs programs in five schools (Cottondale Elementary, Holt Elementary, Maxwell Elementary, Davis-Emerson Middle, and Westlawn Middle) and plans on adding another four schools by next semester. The organization is also starting its first satellite program and will begin training high school juniors and seniors in rural Alabama to work within their own school systems donating a few hours a week reading.
           In addition, for UA students who wish to help but may not have enough time to tutor, READ Alabama has had booths around campus in the past, at events like Quidditch on the Quad and Get on Board Day, and periodically holds book drives.