Warhorse Volunteers with Bookmobile

A collage showing Sean Henderson posing and helping students.

By Tim Reaves
BCS Communications Department

For his summer vacation, rising Owen High senior Sean Henderson decided to make a difference in his community and prepare for his future teaching career.

As part of his senior graduation project, Henderson, who wants to be a second-grade teacher, volunteered to boost local literacy with the BCS Bookmobile. He joined Bookmobile Coordinator Pricilla Lunsford and Americorps educator Katie Reynolds, who provide additional reading supports for students during the school year and summer. The trio travelled to summer feeding sites and reading camps, where they read to elementary-aged children, played literacy games with them, and helped them pick out books on their reading level.

On Thursday, they gave away coupons for ice cream, pizza, and other goodies at Glen Arden Elementary to reward students for completing their reading projects.

“Sean got to learn that the Bookmobile is more than a library on wheels,” Lunsford said. “He learned how the program kids grow their literacy during the summer, how the reading levels help us tailor interventions for individual students, how technology and family engagement packs improve those outcomes. It’s been an eye-opening experience for him and a great help for us.”

Henderson said he got inspired to be a teacher in ninth grade, after his mother noticed that he could comfortably interact with younger students.

“She said ‘maybe you should be a teacher,’ and it just clicked,” he said. “I want to mold kids to love school, so they’ll keep loving school as they get older. And I think we need more male teachers. It’s just a different perspective that might reach more kids.”

Henderson said the Bookmobile has been a rewarding experience that will help him focus his efforts as he works on his senior project during the school year.

“It’s a test course for my future,” he said. “It’s stepping up to a new challenge. And I think it’s important to volunteer. The kids benefit more than you can tell. You see them smile, and it makes you happy.”

Lunsford agreed.

“Volunteerism, especially student volunteerism, makes a difference,” she said. “The kids open up faster to another young person, a fellow student. It helps them interact.”

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