Student Spotlight : Chad

This month, Read Ahead is highlighting the outstanding progress made by Chad, a 2nd-grade student in his second year of program.

Chad started attending Read Ahead as a shy 1st-grade student who loved to read. On his first day with his co-mentors, Matt and Emily, when asked about his favorite things to do, he told them that he loved playing with trucks, drawing, playing with his new baby brother, and reading.

As Chad got to spend more time with his mentors over the course of their first year together, his confidence and desire to read grew with each session. He started off reading books that he was familiar with or had already read in class, mostly with big pictures and funny themes, like Fly Guy Meets Fly Girl. As the year progressed, Chad challenged himself with more difficult books, and started talking more about the characters from the book. A budding artist, Chad loved to draw pictures of his mentors and the characters from the stories he just read.

Now in his second year, the growth Matt and Emily have seen in Chad is remarkable. He came back from summer break incredibly excited to reunite with his mentors, and has started off the year strong by trying out chapter books and comic books with new themes and vocabulary.