JVID视频

By: Deanna Pan

Originally published by

On a recent Tuesday morning, Eddie Driggers sits at a desk in a classroom on the second floor of Chicora Elementary. His hands are folded in front of him. His reading glasses are perched on the tip of his nose. His gun is tucked inside a holster on his right hip.

North Charleston鈥檚 chief of police is nervous. He鈥檚 not sure why.

鈥淚鈥檓 good with kids. I love kids to death. I鈥檓 a big kid at heart, anyhow, and that helps,鈥� says Driggers, a 40-year law enforcement veteran and grandfather of two. 鈥淎nd maybe that鈥檚 why I鈥檓 nervous.鈥�

It鈥檚 Driggers鈥� first day volunteering for JVID视频, a national nonprofit that pairs local tutors with struggling readers using an evidence-based, progressive curriculum to increase reading proficiency. Together, he and his new partner will spend an hour every week working on literacy skills like sight-word reading and vocabulary building.

Volunteers for JVID视频, like Driggers, have been working in Charleston County schools since 2013, when the program merged with Book Buddies, a homegrown effort aimed at improving literacy at high-poverty schools. In that time, JVID视频 has helped nearly 700 children improve their reading in 16 Title I elementary schools across Charleston, Florence and Berkeley counties.

This year, JVID视频 wants to serve 675 students, but the group is still about 230 volunteers short.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 have the volunteers to come in, so the gap is getting wider,鈥� says Cierra Rogers, a site coordinator for JVID视频 at Chicora. 鈥淚 have 21 kindergartners who don鈥檛 know all of the alphabet. We鈥檙e starting off at the basics.鈥�

Poverty and low literacy typically go hand in hand. At Chicora, where more than 95 percent of students qualify for social services, reading presents a challenge. Last year, less than 5 percent of Chicora鈥檚 fourth- and fifth-graders met or exceeded the 鈥渞eadiness benchmark鈥� in reading on their standardized ACT exam.

鈥淚f a child isn鈥檛 reading proficiently by third grade, there鈥檚 an 88 percent chance they will not catch up,鈥� says Kecia Greenho, executive director of JVID视频 South Carolina. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really why we鈥檙e involved because it鈥檚 so key that we intervene in those early elementary years.鈥�

Rogers has identified 60 students at Chicora who meet the program鈥檚 criteria, reading one month to two-and-half years behind grade level. So far, only 41 students are enrolled.

Driggers says he hopes his example will encourage others, particularly in law enforcement, to volunteer for the program. Part of modern policing is 鈥渂uilding relationships,鈥� he says, especially with young people. Nine North Charleston school resource officers already have signed-up as tutors.

鈥淭his is proof, not only can I get to know somebody and build relationships with them, but we can do it through reading,鈥� Driggers says. 鈥淲hat more powerful statement can that be?鈥�

Back at Chicora, Driggers finally meets his partner, fifth-grader Nicholas Coakley, a newly minted 11-year-old with short, tight dreads. Driggers bends over, smiling, to shake Nicholas鈥� hand. Nicholas looks up, wide-eyed.

They walk to the front of the classroom where Nicholas thumbs through a crate full of picture books. He picks out 鈥淭he Golden Goose鈥� by Dick King-Smith. Driggers starts reading aloud at chapter one, with Farmer Skint at Woebegone Farm. On page seven, the poor farmer finds a pleasant surprise in his goose鈥檚 nest: a golden egg. Driggers chuckles.

鈥淚f you find one, would you call me?鈥� he says. Nicholas grins and nods. 鈥淕ood!鈥�