Coker University education students Jokeither Jackson and Ashton Goodwin assisted in Butler Academy’s Summer Reading Camp during the summer of 2023. In three short weeks, Butler’s students made a tremendous amount of growth in their reading skills.
“Having the opportunity to help younger students with their reading skills was very encouraging! I feel proud knowing that these students improved their reading and IReady scores in just 3 short weeks with mine and others’ help!” said Goodwin.
Not only was this a great learning experience for the students of Butler, but it also gave the Coker students an unforgettable experience to influence the lives of our future generation.
“I focused on building a relationship with the students in such a short amount of time! I constantly let them know that I believed that they could do anything!” said Goodwin.
A normal day for the education students consisted of arriving by 7:30 a.m. and preparing for the Butler students to arrive at 7:45 a.m. They checked reading logs and behavior charts for parent signatures and assisted students who needed extra one-on-one time during their reading sessions. Then, they had SPARK sessions every day, which consisted of science experiments and crafts.
“Every day, students had one hour of STEM activities. I acted as one of the assistants during their SPARK session. Once SPARK was completed, I would receive a group of students to work on fluency. I worked with small groups of students in 25 minute increments to time their fluency. ” Jackson said.
The summer reading program at Butler made an impression on our future educators in many ways. Being able to encourage kids by building personal relationships with them and guiding them through the learning process is highly important in our education system. For the Coker students from The Wiggins School of Education, it gave them the opportunity to have a hands-on learning experience and to see what being an educator is like.
“The students impacted me by showing me belonging which is one of Butler Academy's core values and students pushed me to be confident in my future classrooms.” said Jackson.
