We all know that reading is power. At the ABA Business Law Section’s Hybrid Spring Meeting in April, the Section’s Rule of Law Working Group, led by Judge Alvin Thompson and John Stout, and its Pro Bono Committee spearheaded a fun and dynamic opportunity for members of the ABA BLS to read with elementary school students. Daniela Cimo (Chair of the Pro Bono Committee) and Tsui Ng (Co-chair of the Programs Committee) organized volunteers to work with Reading Partners, which partners with schools that identify students who are six months or more behind grade level in reading. (You can read more about the inspiration behind the initiative in Cimo’s article “How Civic Education, Pro Bono, and Professional Integrity Strengthen the Rule of Law.”) Students are paired with trained volunteers who provide one-on-one tutoring twice a week for forty-five minutes during the school year, following a structured curriculum. Students receive their own book every session to build their own home library.
As part of the curriculum, students practice reading out loud. BLS volunteers first received training and selected the book for their student to read to them. These books were donated by BLS members and ranged from stories exercising political and voting rights and stories about historical figures to simply funny stories.
