As the school year ended, The Shadow Project honored the wins of our Reading Mentor students! These events took place at partner schools across the Portland Metro Area and honored a year of reading, goal setting, and forming relationships with mentors.

Reading Mentors

Our volunteer Reading Mentors make this program possible. All year, students meet one-on-one with our trained Reading Mentors. They learn how to navigate Learning Ally, an audio-visual digital library. This unlocks a world of stories and information tailored to their unique needs. Our students set and work towards personalized reading goals. Their reading mentor provides encouragement and support, helping students meet their chosen goals.

One of these celebrations was at Centennial School District’s Meadows Elementary. We are proud to announce that the students at Meadows outdid themselves this year. They read an astonishing 13,874 pages – the highest page count out of any Reading Mentors school this year!

Nui Wilson

The celebration at Meadows Elementary had a special guest: acclaimed author Nui Wilson. Thank you, Nui, for helping make our Spring Celebration such a memorable event!

Nui read aloud from her award-winning book, A Tree of My Own. This story is about an ethnic Karen immigrant’s journey as a refugee from Burma. She travels from her homeland to Portland, OR with her family. In this captivating story, the main character has a special connection with a tree. Nui even took the time to sign some of her books for our eager readers! Staff and teachers enjoyed watching her connect with students. Nui offered a powerful example of resilience and creativity through her book.

When the reading finished, our Reading Mentor students received awards for all the books and pages they read during the school year. Our students ended the year proud of their hard work and confident in their skills!

Spirit Mountain Community Fund supports Reading Mentors

We extend our thanks to Spirit Mountain Community Fund, who joined us for this celebration. Their vital funding supports these incredible students.

The Shadow Project

To learn more about how our Reading Mentors program helps East Multnomah County students, check out our School Programs page.