Shannon and Tyler's story

Moving her family from a remote community, Shannon and Tyler’s mum Kelly, noticed how far behind her 11 year old twins were in reading and writing. After participating in The Smith Family’s student2student reading program and receiving support from their sponsors, they are now ready to start high school.

“They have both picked up a lot at school. We were thinking of keeping them down next year, but the principal told me they can actually go up to high school”, Kelly said.

The student2student reading program helped Shannon and Tyler improve their reading skills and build their confidence at school.

Using mobile phones, connectivity and credit donated by Optus, Shannon and Tyler practiced reading aloud to older student buddies. The trained buddies would ring the boys three times a week to help them read books provided by The Smith Family. When Shannon or Tyler stumbled over words, their buddies used reading tips to help them sound out the word.

Shannon and Tyler’s Learning for Life Coordinator said both boys improved their reading over the course of the program.

In addition to student2student, Shannon and Tyler have sponsors who help to pay for school excursions and extra school activities so the boys don’t miss out.

Kelly is grateful for the support from Smith Family sponsors.

 “The twins do the same things at school, the same camps and the same sporting events. [The sponsorship] has made school costs a lot easier”.

With the generous support of sponsors and volunteers, we are helping to break the cycle of disadvantage.