At the end of a long cafeteria table at Braddock Elementary on Wednesday afternoon, high school sophomore Graciella sat across from third grade student Kemberly with graphic organizers in front of her.
The sophomore girls’ basketball player at Annandale High School is working with the third grader on understanding a passage about the impact plastic bags have on the environment.
Across the cafeteria, Tyson Perkins was doing the same with Lucas, encouraging him to place his fingers across the page as he reads the words aloud.
Wednesday marked the final 45-minute session between Annandale High’s boys and girls’ basketball programs and about 30 third graders at Braddock Elementary who needed the extra help with reading.
Since 2018, the student-athletes have been paired with their younger peers, taking time away from the court to provide it.
“It just feels so good to get out here and see these kids who … I personally have been working with for three years now, and seeing them really grow and be able to sound out words and spell words so much better,” Perkins said.
When the program launched, it was only the girls’ team that served as mentors. But then, because the Fairfax County school has more students it wanted to help, leaders added the boys’ team.
The sessions focus on reading and vocabulary work, and have made the younger kids excited about the task and more confident during class.
Joyce Matthews, the XSTREAM programs coordinator at Braddock, said the extra time is invaluable, “because a lot of our students, they don’t speak English in the home, and so if they’re going to be good readers, they need someone to help them, to work with them, sometimes at home. This way, they’re getting that from the high school students.”
As part of the initiative, the elementary schoolers receive 10 free library books to take home. The program is organized with help from the Herndon, Virginia, nonprofit Readers Are Leaders.
The students and families get dinner, too, and the Annandale athletes earn service hours and $1,000 for their team.
“It’s a huge value, because we get phonics all throughout the day, whole group instruction, small group instruction, but we don’t always get to the comprehension,” said Jacquelyne Vereen, a reading resource teacher at Braddock. “This is what’s helping the students understand.”
For the high schoolers, the reward is more than seeing the younger students make strides academically. It’s an off-the-court bonding activity and improves their chemistry on it.
“It translates and correlates,” Perkins said. “We get to see them out at games, and we want to win for them so much more.”
Chelsea Harrison, head coach of Annandale’s girls’ team, said many of the players attended Braddock, and “it’s actually kind of cool for them to see that, and then also see the value of education and learning and not being scared of challenges, even though it’s in a very small setting.”
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