Genesis thanks program for boosting reading levels

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Genesis School is celebrating a boost in reading scores for both second and third grade, and they are crediting Lead to Read KC.

The program pairs a child with an adult for the school year. Lead to Read has been in Kansas City for 12 years.

Nehemiah and Paul Monteil read mostly non-fiction together, and they proved it with a pop quiz.

“How many bones are in the hand,” Monteil asked.

“Twenty seven,” Nehemiah responded.

Tennille Benton is the second grade teacher, and she said that some of the kids couldn’t read at the beginning of the year. However, that is no longer the case.

“When we started the beginning of the year – out of 17 kids, I only had three that were on grade level,” Benton said. “Thankful for Lead to Read coming in every Tuesday, donating their time – we have gone up, and we’ve shown so much growth.”

Those numbers don’t lie. Genesis Executive Director Kevin Foster shared with the volunteers that reading levels at the end of the year were 121%.

“So what that means is those kids grew 21% more than an average second grade class,” Foster said. “It takes a village and the best part about that is definitely Lead to Read.”

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