Team Read, a local nonprofit organization that pairs high school reading coaches with elementary school students who are behind in reading, first began with four Seattle schools back in 1997, and since 2007, it has expanded throughout the county.

Renton has been a part of Team Read since 2021, and the program continues to grow, along with the reading ability of the 2nd and 3rd graders of Lakeridge Elementary and Campbell Hill Elementary.

When it comes to finding coaches for Team Read, high schoolers are recruited and trained to properly work with the young readers — and they are paid for their work. According to Team Read Communications and Development Director Meg Alley, there are around 30 to 40 teen coaches for the 2023-2024 school year.

“The program is really built to support the curriculum in the classroom,” said Alley. “Having the one-on-one model and a coach staying with the same student for the whole year just really helps the coach kind of get to know that student and understand their needs and how to tailor the curriculum to help that student.”

Team Read sessions take place every Tuesday and Thursday, and as soon as school is out at Renton High, Hazen and Lindbergh, Team Read coaches make their way to see their reading buddies. For senior Jocelyn Renteria, joining Team Read has been a great opportunity for her to kickstart her teaching career.

“I’ve been wanting to be a teacher since I was 14. I’m 17 now, so I wanted to get some hands-on experience with what it’s like being around children and being in a scholarly environment. Once I saw this opportunity, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna take this,’ because I want to get a start on my future,” Renteria said.

Even though this is her first year with the program, Renteria said her student makes the experience a joyful one.

“I love my student. He is the most amazing and most kind reader and this is literally the best thing,” she said.

At Campbell Hill, the Team Read site coordinator is Sky Rapoza, 21, who was a coach herself in high school. “I love seeing the improvement of the readers from the beginning of the year to the end of the year,” she said.

Rapoza says that some students at Campbell Hill love the program and their coaches so much that sometimes teachers will come to the twice-weekly sessions to sign off on a student’s improved reading level.

“Kids who you know, who really have the potential to become great readers just need a little extra time and some focused attention,” said Alley. “And the teens are paid minimum wage for their work. They work about three hours a week so it’s a nice little small paycheck for them, which is really great.”

Once coaches are trained, they’re paired with a reader and then at each session the two practice phonics, fluency and reading comprehension. The young reader will choose a book of their reading level (levels go from A to P) and toward the end of each session, the coach will work with them on a book that is right above their reading level.

As for further expansion of the program, Alley says that Team Read hopes to expand further into the Renton School District and beyond.

“Our goal is to build confident, joyful readers and to give teens access to a meaningful first job. Those are kind of our big overarching goals,” she said. “In our last strategic plan, we also had goals around racial equity and making sure that the coaches coming in to work with students really mirror that population. So we’ve done a lot of outreach to diversify our coach base.”

For more information, visit teamread.org.

Team Read has partnered with Renton schools since 2021.