Beginning Internship at SAYL

For my internship this spring I’ll be working with SAYL (San Antonio Youth Literacy).

SAYL is a non-profit organization focused on the development of reading skills of

second grade elementary school students. The rationale for selecting second grade

students, is that beginning with third grade, those students who are not reading at grade

level tend to fall behind in all subjects. SAYL has two specific programs devoted to

improving childhood literacy; Reading Buddies and Book Buddies. The Reading

Buddies program pairs adult volunteers with students who have been identified as

reading below grade level. The volunteers and their Reading Buddies meet weekly at

the school and practice reading for 30 minutes. Volunteers are provided with training,

books, and other materials to assist them in their efforts. The Book Buddies program

identifies volunteers to assist with sorting and distributing donated books. SAYL has

also initiated summer programs to combat the loss of academic progress during the

summer months, or what has been referred to the “Summer Slide”.

I look forward to gaining an understanding of how non-profit organizations operate, and

I hope to be able to make some comparisons with the operation of for-profit

organizations this semester. Additionally, this opportunity will provide me with important

insight into the critical need for early intervention in the development of reading skills.