School secretary, Brenda Warkentin, helps in Book Buddies. She enjoys seeing the high school students interact with their book buddies. The students have thirty minutes to read to the kids and they take great advantage of the time they have.
“A lot of the Book Buddy students do not have a mentor to help them learn things and our students are great mentors toward the kids,” Warkentin said. “I have been helping in Book Buddies for four years, most students that decide to do book buddies their freshman year continue to participate for the rest of their high school years.”
Hannah Nale, ’17, participates in cheer, volleyball, basketball and now Book Buddies. She loves being a part of the club because she gets to connect with the kids and help them out with whatever they need.
“As a person I feel like I’ve become more patient with not only myself, but with others,” Nale said. “I love being with little kids, they are so much fun and spending time with them is great. My buddies name is Ruby. She is so cute, she’s very entertaining but gets easily distracted. We have great conversations together, though.”
Nale loves coming to school on Thursdays knowing that she has book buddies that day. At first she was nervous about what would happen; now she knows she will always have a good time.
“I’m really excited about the program,” Nale said. “I like showing up to school, knowing I get to see my buddy that day. First I was a little nervous but now I know what to expect from it.”
Sierra Duffy, ’16, also in book buddies, has two buddies in the program, Rianna and Trinadad. This is Duffy’s second year doing the program.
“I like being with kids and I did it last year,” Duffy said. “I thought it was a lot of fun. I also like being a good influence on the kids. I’ve become a lot more patient and tolerable in the things I do.”
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The first year Duffy did Book Buddies she did not know what to expect. She was excited to see what was to become of the club and all the new kids she would meet and interact with.
“My two buddies are very cute,” Duffy said. “They are easy to interact with which is great. I look forward to seeing the kids and how their week has been so far.”
Mikayla Miller, ’15, has also been in the program twice now. The first time she did the club was when she was a freshman. Miller loved the experience as she does now. She thinks the club is a great way to learn new skills.
“I feel like being in Book Buddies has helped me reach out to my community more than I have,” Miller said. “I wanted to do the club because I love being with the little kids and spending time with them. It’s fun seeing the excitement on their faces when we come.”
This writer can be reached via Twitter: @sbbelmont98, Email: [email protected].
For more features, read the Nov. 21 article, San Joaquin Parkway encourages community ownership (VIDEO).
