Kenwood Cares Club Reading with Local Elementary School to promote Student Literacy

Kenwood Cares, ran by Mrs. Fulcher, formerly Walker, is a pretty popular club here at Kenwood High. The club is part of the Chic fil a Leader Academy which is a national leadership program that is built around Impact through Action. The goal is to build leaders who impact their communities.

Kenwood Cares is where those student leaders start to take action to impact our local community. Ms. Fulcher has advised the club for three school years now and in years past students volunteered at Manna House and Paul’s Place, Inc in Baltimore to help the homeless and less fortunate.

However, with COVID-19 the past year it’s been a little harder to get involved in the community. Ms. Fulcher shares, “While we are virtual, we don’t have much planned. But in the past, we have volunteered at local soup kitchens to serve breakfast and have completed clothing drives for those in need!”
This year with everything being virtual in January they started reading to Middlesex Elementary students weekly. “So far this year we’ve only been reading at Middlesex Elementary but we’re hoping to expand our network next year,” shares Mrs. Fulcher.

The elementary students think it’s pretty neat to have older high school students join their class once a week. Middlesex Elementary second grade teacher Ms. Dufel shares, “My students loved having other students from high school there. They thought it was so “cool” to be on a class meeting with them. This has provided many opportunities for my students to discuss and collaborate about which books interest them and why. They were also very impressed with how well the high school students read and I feel like this helped boost their own confidence. My students work so hard all day long and it is the best reward for them to have one afternoon to listen to a story from someone they admire!” Ms. Dufel’s second grade class is very grateful to get this opportunity once a week with Kenwood High students.

The Chik fil a Academy’s goal is to encourage student leadership. Part of their mission statement states, “The world needs more leaders who impact their local communities, and we believe high school students are the answer!” Kenwood High’s Kenwood Cares proves that they are definitely part of the answer to making their community a better place!