BD Diagnostics Volunteers Read to Padonia Students

By Molly Glassman

Padonia International Elementary is fortunate to have a wonderful community partner in Becton, Dickinson and Company, a medical technology company with offices in Sparks. BD Diagnostics has donated $6,000 over the past six years to Padonia, and it has also partnered with the school to make its Lunch Bunch program a great success.                   

Volunteers from BD come to Padonia once a week to read to a group of five or six students during their lunch period. While the students eat at the Lunch Bunch table, their volunteer reads a story aloud and engages the students in discussion before, during, and after reading.

Iris Kutch, who has volunteered weekly for the past five years, reads to a rotating group of first graders. 

 "I enjoy spending time with kids, reading to them or them reading to me or just talking,” said Kutch, a senior software engineer at BD. "Their point of view is so innocent and refreshing; it keeps me young and open minded. I can really be myself around them because they are so accepting of other people."

The first graders can’t wait for their turn to have Mrs. Kutch read to them.

"It’s fun to eat and read some books," said Jimena Alvarado, a first grade student. "It’s great because you can hear and learn how to read [from Mrs. Kutch]. She likes to read books like, Silly Hair Day."

"If there are things that are silly and fun in the book, we talk about that," said Khyati Bhat, also in first grade at Padonia. "Miss Iris is nice and kind."

Larry Dreyer, a project scientist at BD, has been reading to a rotating group of third graders this year.

"I like interacting with the kids, as I know they are our future. My only child is now 35 and living in New York, so I don't get the chance to spend time with young children much anymore."

Mr. Dreyer said it can be difficult for BD volunteers to find the time to drive the five miles through York Road traffic, from Sparks to Cockeysville.

"I'm lucky in that most of my work is scheduled by myself, rather than by my boss,” Dreyer said. "This means that—except for emergency meetings held near lunchtime on Wednesdays—I can usually stay at work late Wednesday afternoon to make up the time spent traveling to and from the school for Lunch Bunch earlier in the day."

One of the third graders in Lunch Bunch, William Castellanos, said that Mr. Dreyer asks the five or six students in the group to vote on which book he will read aloud.

"It’s great because they have a lot of books to choose from on the cart," Castellanos said.

Last year, much of the company’s $2,000 donation was used to buy a library of hardcover books that are stored on a rolling cart for the Lunch Bunch groups. The remainder was used to buy one book for each student who participates in Lunch Bunch. The students were thrilled to select books at Padonia’s Scholastic Book Fair and take them home to build their personal libraries.

This year’s $2,000 will again be used to provide materials for the Lunch Bunch groups at school and to buy books for individual students at the Scholastic Book Fair.

The first $2,000 donated by BD, in 2008, was designated for the school’s Technology Fund and was used toward the purchase of an interactive Promethean whiteboard for technology-enhanced lessons.

The Lunch Bunch program is very flexible, and it’s not limited to BD employees.

Volunteers choose a time based on the grade level they’d like to read to. Volunteers are welcome to come once a week, once a month …whatever fits their schedule. They pick up their group of students in the cafeteria, read for 20 minutes, and then take the students back to the cafeteria to rejoin their homerooms.

Editor's Note: Glassman is an ESOL teacher at Padonia International. This article has been lightly edited.