Read Aloud Program

The Read Aloud Program is a partnership among the faculty and staff of Boston College, the Boston Public Schools and Boston Partners in Education. The program's volunteers are assigned to read to students once a month at Brighton area schools including Mary Lyon, Winship and St. Columbkille.

The Read Aloud Program assigns each volunteer to a team comprised of four members dedicated to work with one classroom throughout the year. Each classroom is visited once per week by a member of the team for 20 minutes. Each volunteer is responsible for one of the four sessions per month.

The one hour monthly commitment per volunteer includes travel time between Boston College and the school. The schools usually schedule readings between 11:30 am and 12:30 pm. Readings begin in mid-October and run until the end of the academic year.

Readings can be selected from picture books for younger students or a succession of chapters in more advanced books for older students. Readings can be timed to the season of the year, special holidays, historic events, current affairs or can be taken from a recommended book list.

Faculty and staff from all areas of the of campus participate in the program. No prior classroom experience is necessary. A training is offered before the program starts, led by a guest. The training includes handouts, updated booklists, tips, techniques and discussion of the logistics of the program.

Volunteering in the Read Aloud takes very little time, yet it is tremendously rewarding. The response from everyone involved in this program, volunteers, teachers and students has been increasingly encouraging and positive since the program's inception in 1995. However, the success of this program depends on the continuous dedication of its participants.

This year's training session will take place on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 from 12 pm to 1:15 pm in the McElroy Conference Room, located on the second floor of the bookstore building.

If you're either a returning reader or a new volunteer for the Read Aloud Program, please submit an application form.