The Episcopal Church of St. James, Leesburg, Virginia began a Reading Camp this summer through a partnership with the Reading Camp ministry in the Diocese of Lexington. Volunteers from St. James, Leesburg held their first "Reading Carnival Camp" this summer with great support and encouragement from local schools and education personnel and are already looking to expand their program in three avenues.
1) Continue their summer/initial contact with their Reading Campers by piloting an after-school program on Monday afternoons. Already 14 of their 25 Reading Campers from last summer have applied to come on Monday afternoons. This program is being supported by many of the same volunteers who helped Reading Camp take off at St. James this past summer. This program is planned to be structured in a "Reader's Theatre" format. Church volunteers help the children learn readings of brief plays that are too difficult to memorize, but the student readers learn to read words in context. Volunteers work with children on reading scripts. One day everyone goes to a local thrift shop to get outfits that would fit their character.
2) Increase their Reading Camp program to two weeks next summer--one week for returning 4th grade campers and one week for new 3rd graders coming to Reading Camp for the first time. They're planning spending tons of energy to re-evaluate the curriculum to better tailor it to the different achievement levels of the students.
3) Through a parish connection with the Episcopal Church in Liberia, St. James is planning on a group trip of 23 young people from their parish to Monrovia, Liberia this June/July for the first Liberian Reading Camp. This partnership is through a connection with the Bromley Girls School (and its 180 students) just outside of Monrovia. Huge educational infrastructure needs remain in Liberia and helping the leadership of the Bromley Girls School further meet their literacy education needs is an excellent step in that direction. St. James already has a parishioner who is living in Monrovia and working with the school.
The stated plan is that the visiting young people from St. James will work with the older students there to put together learning centers for the younger 3rd and 4th grade students at the school. Another group of teachers from the Diocese of Virginia has already been on one trip to lend a little help in rebuilding their country's education system. Reading Camp is now a full partner in that work.
One of the more exciting points about the Liberia connection was with the Bishop of Liberia, Rt Rev. Jonathan Bau-Bau Bonaparte Hart, who, on hearing there was interest to bring Reading Camp to his country of Liberia, told the volunteers from Virginia, "Oh, you must talk to the Diocese of Lexington. They're the ones who do Reading Camp!" The Virginian volunteers excitedly replied, "We have been working with them already!"
How exciting that God's blessings through Reading Camp continue with the people of St. James, Leesburg, Virginia through their new after school program "Reader's Theater", the expansion of their Reading Camp program into two weeks this summer, and their further sharing of the blessing of Reading Camp through their connections with the Episcopal Church through the Diocese of Liberia.
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More of the back story about how the the Reading Camp ministry spread to St. James', Leesburg, Virginia to become "Reading Carnival Camp" is available here.
