A group of students at Carbondale Community High School has discovered that one of the most meaningful ways to serve their community begins with something simple: sitting beside a younger child and opening a book.

The program is called Story Time with the Terriers, and it connects high school students with younger readers at Parrish Elementary School and Thomas Elementary School. The initiative was created and is coordinated by the school’s Library Media Center Coordinator, Dawn Taylor, who saw an opportunity to spark enthusiasm for reading while building meaningful connections between students across the district.

Taylor explains that the idea behind the program grew out of work she had done earlier in her career. She noticed that many students were arriving at school with lower reading levels than in previous years and began thinking creatively about ways to encourage younger readers. “Literacy and your ability to read are the most important skills that you can have in life,” Taylor said. “Reading scores are going down every year, so we have to find creative ways to combat that.”

Story Time with the Terriers is built around three main components. First, high school students produce reading videos for younger students. The second and most visible piece of the program involves monthly visits to elementary classrooms, where high school volunteers spend time reading and interacting with students. The third component, which is still being developed, will pair high school mentors with elementary students who are close to reaching grade-level reading benchmarks so that they can receive encouragement and regular check-ins.

During the school visits, high school students rotate through classrooms in thirty-minute sessions, usually with two or three students assigned to each room. Over the course of about two hours, they read with children, help with classroom literacy activities, and simply spend time encouraging a love of books.

For many of the high school volunteers, the experience is surprisingly powerful. Sophomore Mazzy Miller says the younger students treat the visiting high schoolers with a level of admiration that can be both exciting and humbling. She explained that the elementary students are curious about high school life. “They really look up to us,” Miller said. “They always ask what high school is like because they’re so excited to be older and be like us.”

That sense of connection is something Taylor intentionally built into the program. When she selected the forty students who participated, she carefully chose a wide range of personalities, interests, and academic experiences. The group includes athletes, artists, musicians, theater students, and others representing many parts of the school community.

Her goal was to ensure that every elementary student could see someone who looked like them or shared similar interests. “I wanted all the younger students to be able to see themselves in the students that I brought,” Taylor explained.

Senior Ibrahim Makhdum says that the connection between older and younger students is exactly what drew him to the program. Growing up, he watched a family friend participate in a mentoring program that paired older and younger students for several years, and the relationship made a lasting impression on him. “I wanted to be able to do something like that,” Makhdum said. “Even if it’s just for one year, being able to relate to a kid and see them grow is something I really look forward to.”

For sophomore Zulia Lopez, the experience has been both meaningful and eye-opening. She said that spending time with younger students has reminded her how important patience and encouragement can be when children are learning. “Kids make mistakes reading, and we make mistakes too,” Lopez said. “They don’t need a perfect reader. They just need someone willing to support them and be there with them through their mistakes.”

Those moments have also helped the high school students grow in ways they did not expect. Many say they are learning how to communicate with younger children, adapt to unexpected situations, and build relationships that go beyond a single visit.

Even the teachers who accompany the students to the elementary schools say the experience is uplifting. Taylor noted that one teacher described the visit as “a salve to her soul,” explaining that watching students interact with younger children reminded her of the joy that first drew her to education.

For Taylor, moments like that confirm that the program is doing exactly what she hoped it would do: strengthening connections across the community while encouraging students of all ages to value reading.