Sample Interviews with Principal and/or other Educators at the Elementary School
- Telephone call to set up an appointment with Elementary School Principal or Church Pastor
- Telephone conversation with Principal or Church Pastor
- Personal Interview with Principal or Church Pastor
Appointment
School/church: (Phone rings) "Hello, _______________ School/Church. May I help you?"
Read & Lead Caller: "Hello, may I please speak to Mr./Ms. ________________?"
School/Church: "May I ask why you are calling?"
Read & Lead Caller; "Yes, I'm calling in regard to a letter I wrote Mr./Ms. ________ last week with regard to conducting a Read & Lead™ Reading Improvement Program at _________________________ Elementary School (or ___________ Church). I think he/she is expecting my call. May I talk to him/her now or may I set up an appointment to see him/her? Is there a better time for me to call?"
Telephone conversation
Principal/Pastor: "Hello, this is Principal/Pastor ___________________. May I help you?"
Read & Lead Volunteer: "Mr./Ms. ________________, this is _____(Name)______ with ______(School/Group)_________. Last week I wrote you a letter with regard to conducting a Read & Lead™ Reading Improvement Program at your school/church/etc. We would like to volunteer to read to your children that may have difficulty with reading. Do you recall receiving my letter?"
Principal/Pastor: "Yes, I received it yesterday."
Read & Lead Volunteer: "Great? The reason I'm calling is to set up an appointment to discuss the Read & Lead™ program with you. Could I come to your office on _______________ at ________?"
Principal/Pastor: "Yes, of course."
Read & Lead Volunteer: "Great! I'll see you on _______(date)_______ at _____(time)______. Perhaps you would like to have the librarian, person in charge of the extended day program or any interested teachers in the meeting. Thank you very much."
Personal Interview
Principal/Pastor: "Welcome! How can I help you?"
Read & Lead Volunteer: "Mr./Ms. ____________, my name is ___________ and I am ____(officer)_________ of the _________(Club/Group)______.
(Hand Principal/Pastor a copy of your brochure.)
Here is a brochure that I/we responded to in order to be involved with the Read & Lead™ program started. Are you familiar with Read & Lead™? Read & Lead™ is a non-profit organization started and run by concerned who want to mentor your children in reading skills. With the emphasis on TV in the United States reading skills are falling year after year. Through Read & Lead™, we hope to turn the tide of reading in America.Our purpose today is to see if you feel that your school/church has students that would benefit from a one-on-one reading relationship with an older student. I/We will donate one hour per week to read age appropriate books to the children you recommend. We do not teach reading because we are not trained to do so. But, educators tell us that the first step in a young child's learning to love books and reading is to be read to by a loving older person. Thus, that is the role which we'd like to serve.
Do you have children who would benefit from this type of one-on-one attention?
Do you have an extended day program (Sunday school, day care, etc.)? Are there children that could meet us after school once a week?"
**Usually the conversation takes off from here. Be familiar with this manual so you can answer most of the educator's questions.