Jana Summar

“Book Buddies”, Summar’s innovative program, is designed to connect parents and community volunteers with kindergarten through fourth-grade students at Erma Siegel Elementary School who are not reading at their grade level. Through the program, volunteers will be assigned to work with students throughout the year. The students will spend 30 minutes, two to three times a week, reading to an adult and listening to an adult read to them. High-interest books will be organized by reading levels in a Book Buddies box, allowing the buddies and the students to pick appropriate and interesting selections. Summar, who lives in Murfreesboro, wants to improve the reading levels of the youngest elementary level students to ensure they improve their reading skills throughout their entire school career.