Elizabethtown College is collaborating with local community partners to help promote healthy bedtime reading routines for children and families through the “Bears & Blue Jays Book Buddies” program.
The initiative has paired Etown students with Elizabethtown Area School District children and caretakers to engage in a series of virtual readings. Volunteers read a series of books aloud over Zoom while the child and their caregiver follow along. Books are provided to the families, free of charge, as well as bedtime snacks donated by a local church, a stuffed animal, and a custom Blue Jays/Bears branded cup. 
The idea was spawned during an Elizabethtown Area HUB meeting in December. A United Way Community Impact Partner, the Etown HUB is an alliance of support services for education, housing, food, and counseling assistance. The specific topic for that month’s meeting focused on education.
Sharon Sherick, the Program Coordinator for Etown’s Center for Community and Civic Engagement (CCCE) was in need of service opportunities that the College’s students could conduct virtually. While there, Sherick partnered with Nicole Robinson, who serves as the Family Development Specialist in the Community Action Partnership of Lancaster County’s Parents as Teachers program, which aims to teach effective parenting skills and connect families with community resources.
Robinson’s organization was in the midst of providing books to local families dealing with the challenges of their children’s education being remote due to the pandemic. Sherick and Robinson saw an opportunity for a mutually beneficial partnership between Etown and the Community Action Partnership, and the “Bears & Blue Jays Book Buddies” program began to take shape.
In addition to providing funding for the books, the Community Action Partnership created educational guides that helped Etown students, as well as caregivers, engage with the children during their virtual reading sessions. These one-pagers were compiled for each book and included topics to discuss and specific words to review.
A total of 21 families with preschool and school-aged children and five Elizabethtown College students took part in six virtual reading sessions during the spring 2021 semester. Etown students of varying majors, who were interested in a community-based learning project or work-study opportunity, participated.
Student volunteers attended a training and live demonstration with Robinson before beginning the program. In addition to reading the stories, volunteers are responsible for scheduling the virtual readings and going over supporting materials with children and their caregivers during each session. At the end of each visit, Etown students completed a brief reflection.
Robinson noted the benefit that this opportunity provides to Etown students, especially since the majority are education majors.
“Anytime college students get to use their skills or training in front of a ‘live audience’ it strengthens their tool belt of experiences,” explained Robinson. “This further helps to prepare them for their future careers.”
Casey Andris ‘23, an Early Childhood Education major, received valuable field experience from working with different families and enjoyed that the program allowed her to stay connected with the local Elizabethtown community even though she was a remote learner during the spring semester.
“I loved watching the excitement and participation from the families during each reading session,” said Andris. “As the weeks progressed, I enjoyed seeing each student’s love for reading develop and become more engaged in the book.”
Jasmine Romano ‘24, a Psychology major and Human Services minor, was drawn to the program because she is aiming to work with children and adolescents after she graduates.
“This ended up being such an amazing experience, and the kids were absolutely wonderful,” said Romano. “They were always ready to get reading, but also tell me a bunch of stories that always brought a smile to my face.”
The benefits of this program are far-reaching and extend well beyond a professional-development opportunity for Etown students, explains Robinson.
“Statistics show that children need at least four positive role models to help predict their future success,” said Robinson. “These college students were another addition to the elementary student’s ‘bank’ of positive role models. When we have the college, local school district, and local businesses collaborating with a united focus (strengthening our students and their families), everyone wins.”
Program Coordinator for Parents as Teachers, Beth Eberly, emphasized the importance of a regular book-sharing routine for a child’s school readiness and success.
“Early literacy experiences beginning in infancy are critical to nurturing cognitive, language and social-emotional development,” said Eberly. “The caregiver is sending the message that reading is important while also building an association with positive parent-child interaction. These routines serve an important role in cultivating a special bond between the child and caregiver.”
Etown students were given a break from reading aloud on Zoom when children’s author, Deborah Diesen, was brought in for a virtual reading from her Pout-Pout Fish book series in late April. The children and their caregivers were familiar with Diesen after reading one of her books earlier in the spring.
Jesse Waters, Director of Etown’s Bowers Writers House, became involved in the “Bears & Blue Jays Book Buddies” program and saw an opportunity to expand its outreach beyond the 21 families who initially participated.
Waters booked Diesen for the virtual book reading and opened up the event by inviting additional families from Lancaster and Dauphin County. Funded by the Bowers Writers House, he offered a free Pout-Pout Fish series book to the first 50 respondents.
In 45 minutes, he had 145 requests.
“That quick of a response was the community telling us what they wanted,” said Waters. “We heard them loud and clear and said, ‘Let’s make this happen and continue this.’”
Waters is continuing to serve as a change agent for the “Bears & Blue Jays Book Buddies” program moving forward. He recruited seven Etown students to carry on the virtual readings to 25 families over the summer while having the Bowers Writers House pick up the cost of the books.
“Etown is asking community members, ‘What can we do?’ said Waters. “‘Here is what we are and the resources that we have, how can we complement or support what is already going on in the community?’ And this initiative is an example of that.”
“What we’re doing on this campus attracts students who want to be involved with volunteer work,” said Waters. “They’re not looking for some kind of kudos or some kind of compensation, it’s just something that they want to do.”