Catawba County News

Reasons to be Thankful: Teen and Young Adult Volunteers

Reasons to be Thankful: Teen and Young Adult Volunteers

Published: November 18, 2021

This week’s Reason to be Thankful post comes to us from Sarah McElhone, Library Services Specialist at the Main Library in Newton. 

 

I am thankful for our wonderful teen and young adult volunteers and interns. We are extremely fortunate to work alongside Catawba County Schools, Social Services Teen Up, NC State Cooperative Extension Youth Council, CVCC Work-Based Learning and Appalachian State Community Navigator programs. We are lucky to be a part of the journey of so many strong, capable, and energetic individuals.

Each semester we have about a dozen teen volunteers donate their time to the Homework Helpers program and our community is definitely grateful for their service.  They are responsible, reliable, inventive, encouraging, and inspiring role models. The volunteers typically work with emerging readers on their literacy skills, but have also provided help in math and science. They have even assisted ESL adults working towards their educational goals.

Because of these teens, the Main Library in Newton provided 74 one-on-one sessions in October alone! If you spend any amount of time truly engaged with youth in our community, you will recognize that our future is bright, energetic, inclusive, and giving!