KIDS WHO SHINE
PRIYA SONI, 17
BY STEPHANIE GIBSON LEPORE At The Altamont School, some students choose to participate in Miree, a leadership volunteer organization. In addition to regular academic work and extracurriculars, students must execute a Miree Project based on something of interest to them that also serves a community need. Priya Soni, a junior, is one such student. She has been at The Altamont School since 8th grade, where she also plays tennis. Miree is a perfect fit for her, because “I am very passionate about service work,” she says. Priya chose to bring eBookBuddy, an online program for students with reading deficits, to Irondale Community School. “It is such an amazing program because it helps in so many ways,” says Priya. “I have been with them since two summers ago, and I am passionate about this work. It helps kids not only learn to read, but also to learn how to interact with others by opening them up to learn new things and challenging them to progress.” The Georgia-based eBookBuddy program lends aid to elementary schools in local communities. The program began a few years ago and was instituted at elementary schools around the metro-Atlanta area. Their vision is “to provide consistent opportunities to foster literacy in relationship through online meetings with a dedicated reading buddy. We envision our county, state, and country’s literacy levels rising through the impact of our model, for the sake of the kids and their life’s flourishing.” The program provides assistance to Title 1 schools, English language learners, immigrant families, and students who need extra reading help. “We were honored to bring this amazing program to our community to help kids here in Birmingham,” says Priya. “Through the online program, students meet with their buddy for 30 minutes approximately twice a week for a semester. Our goal is to help kids learn to read because it is a crucial part of their education. A secondary goal is to build connections with kids to let them know that they have someone to lean on” In order to get eBookBuddy started in Birmingham, Priya had to facilitate a partnership with the program. “Through the Miree Center, we partnered with eBookBuddy to bring this platform to the city of Birmingham,” she says. “They were willing to grow and loved the idea.” 30 Bham Family October 2021
PHOTO COURTESY OF PRIYA SONI
The Altamont School junior Priya Soni brought an online reading program to Birmingham for her Miree Project.
Priya worked with many leaders, teachers, and mentors to bring eBookBuddy here, including Jin Lee, founder, eBookBuddy; Alicia Crewey, data and recruitment of eBookBuddy; Aarti Nayar, outreach director, eBookBuddy; Katherine Berdy, former Miree Director; and Beth Dille, current Miree Director. “I then reached out to local schools, and we sought volunteers around the area. We really wanted this to be a community-based program, which means getting volunteers from the community as well as students.” Due to the year of Covid, finding volunteers proved difficult. So did finding a school. “It was tough to find schools that were willing to partner with us and give us students,” says Priya. Eventually, Priya found a fit with Irondale Community school, where she continues to work with the program today. “My favorite part of the program is the relationship,” she says. “When we partnered with this program, we did it because it is an great cause and education is vital, but after being with eBookBuddy for a while, the relationships and community I’ve discovered is unreal. One of the main reasons eBookBuddy is such an amazing group is because it helps to build connections with kids. This is also why it is set up as a buddy system, where you stick with the same person through the semester, so they have consistency. Most of these kids aren’t able to do a lot besides go to school, so for them to have a friend who gives them constant attention is huge.” Priya intends to continue as a volunteer with the program even after high school graduation. “I am still very much involved, and I plan on staying. I hope to spread our partnership with eBookBuddy to other schools,” she says. For more information, visit ebookbuddy.org.
