FOR RETURNING VOLUNTEERS

• Hopefully at this time you've completed your required paperwork and refresher training (plus additional training for the Boys & Girls Clubs), and heard from your team leader with your first team meeting of the year! We can't wait to get sessions started later this month at our Framingham and Club sites. For Boston Public School volunteers, as we shared last week, sessions will likely be a few weeks delayed. We will continue to stay in close communication as we learn more from our BPS partner schools.

FOR NEW VOLUNTEERS

• Framingham Public School Volunteers: We’ve completed our first round of volunteer assignments to our FPS partner schools. If you haven’t received an assignment yet, hang tight—more are on the way! Assignments are being made based on when applications were submitted. As we continue to receive student referrals from FPS this week and next, we’ll be reaching out to match you with schools and time slots. Keep an eye on your inbox—more to come soon!

• Boston After School Club Volunteers: We have more students referred than coaches to serve them at our 3 Boston Boys and Girls Club locations! We could use at least 5 more volunteers to serve in the afternoon at either the Blue Hill, South Boston, or Yawkey Boys & Girls Club. If you are interested and are not currently assigned to a Literations site, please reach out to recruitment@literations.org ASAP.

• Boston Public School Volunteers: As we have previously shared, BPS is working through a new partnership process that’s caused delays across many programs, including ours. The good news? We’ve completed all district-level requirements! Now, we’re working with principals at our partner schools to finalize agreements so we can start programming again. While it’s taking a bit longer than usual, we expect to begin assigning new volunteers to BPS sites by mid to late October. Thanks for your patience—we’re nearly there!

FOR EVERYONE

Training and background checks are required for all volunteers. If you haven't already, please be sure to:

• Register for training
• new coach
• returning coach
• Watch training videos
• new coach
• returning coach
• Complete your onboarding paperwork
• Register for our AmeriCorps Info Session Zoom (optional) if you would like to learn more about our AmeriCorps volunteer positions and receive a stipend and possible education award

Hub Training

• The New Volunteer Hub Training scheduled for 10/17 at Hyde Park has been cancelled. We’re working on rescheduling it for a later date in November. Stay tuned for more details for both Boston and Framingham volunteers once venues are confirmed. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at programsupport@literations.org.

• Hub Refresher Training: We’re hosting two optional Hub Refresher Training sessions on 10/18 and 10/25 from 10am-12pm. Join us to review Hub mechanics and learn about new features! Zoom link.

Mark Your Calendar

Emergent Reader Program (ERP) Town Hall (Virtual)

If you're serving an ERP student this year, we encourage you to join this Town Hall for a refresher on running the ERP program plus a deep dive into ERP best practices. We promise a fun and engaging time!

Date: Thursday, November 14th

Time: 12-1pm

Location: online

Register Here

Zoom Literacy Coach Drop-Ins

Do you have a student who has been hard to engage? Are you not sure how long is "just right" for sticking with one RAZ book before moving on? Do you wonder why most of our RAZ library books are nonfiction? You're not alone! 

Please join members of the Literations staff for drop-in hours to get advice on any program-related questions that may have popped up in the first weeks of sessions and have some great discussions with other coaches and Literations staff.

Dates and times:

• Tue, Nov 5 at 9:30am
• Tue, Nov 19 at 1pm
• Wed, Dec 4 at 9:30am
• Tue, Dec 17 at 1pm
• Wed, Dec 15 at 1pm

No need to register in advance. Zoom link for all Drop-Ins: https://us02web.zoom.us/s/84150577396

Back to School: Strategies for Managing Distractions Workshop

The first in a series of literacy coach volunteer workshops this school year hosted by AARP Experience Corps.

• Wed, Oct 16 at 4pm
• More info

Reminder - No Sessions

• Fri, Nov 11 - Veterans Day
• Nov 27-29 - Thanksgiving Break

District Calendars

• Boston Public Schools
• Framingham Public Schools

Coaching Quick Tips

Build Trust First 🤝 – Get to know your students and create a positive, supportive environment. A strong relationship helps students engage and feel comfortable taking risks in their learning.

Boost Reading Confidence 📚 – Start with a text that is less challenging to help students experience success early on. Feeling confident from the start sets the tone for the rest of the year.

Break Reading into Chunks ✂️ – For longer texts, break reading into smaller, manageable parts. This helps students focus, reduces overwhelm, and improves comprehension as they progress step by step.