The Nightingale Sweet Readers program started in 2013 with two Nightingale Parents, Elizabeth Reede and Allison Niles, serving as facilitators. The initial program was an after-school program with voluntary sign up and the sessions were intimate gatherings in the Nightingale classrooms, Jewish Museum galleries and Jewish Home Library.
In 2015, we expanded the program to include the full 7th grade in partnership with 7th graders at the Young Women’s Leadership School of East Harlem. In 2016 the program expanded again to include both full 7th grades with all sessions in the Nightingale classrooms. The girls partner with adults who come to our programs from their own homes with a care partner. Together, they have formed a warm, beautifully bridged diverse community where every voice, including those of the dedicated faculty facilitators, is valued and heard.
The dedication of our partners and their teams at Nightingale and The Young Women’s Leadership School of East Harlem (TYWLS) has made it a heartwarming success! Over the past four years, the NBS team, and for the past three years the TYWLS community, have empowered their students to engage in Sweet Readers for a total of 171 sessions, averaging 13 hrs./student/school year with adult participants engaged, on average, 24 hours/school year. This year, the TYWLS girls are engaging for an average of 26 hours/school year!
With special thanks to Niurka Alvarez, Julia Anderson, Paul Burke, Jenny Cooley, Fiona Donovan, Claire du Nouy, Drew Higginbotham, Nora Lidell, Damaris Maclean, Colleen McGeehan, Allison Niles, Elizabeth Reede, Laura Vega, Roseanne Quinn and Fanny Zhao.
