Sigmas help SAYL

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Volunteering was one of the first things that attracted me to Sigmas. Not only does the entire club participate in Give every year together, but we also do many other service projects during the year. For example five of us Sigmas are volunteering this semester to help children in elementary school become stronger readers.  The Organization is called San Antonio Youth Literacy or SAYL for short.  The goal of this program is helping children master reading in its early stages so they will be able to succeed in middle and high school reading levels. This is important because many children especially in San Antonio do not have a good foundation of reading and fall through the cracks. They end up sliding by each class with a D or even fail and have to take summer school. This is why it is so important for young children in the beginning stages of reading to master it completely. 

This problem has drawn the attention of the Sigmas and when it was mentioned during a meeting I knew it was something I wanted to do. I spend an hour each week at Lamar Elementary School and work with two second graders for thirty minutes each. Each week we pick a new book to read that is interesting to them. If they are not in the mood to read we do not want to force them to because we want them to get a positive vibe from it. I am hoping to help these kids as much as I possibly can because I understand the importance of being able to read well. It not only helps you be successful in the classroom, but also out in the world.

Back to School

The beginning of this new school year began with a Sigma meeting held in Waxahachie in upstairs Coates. It had been a long summer and everyone was excited to see everyone again. It was nice seeing the remainder of the sorority grouped within one tight location. The room seemed empty at the beginning of this semester because most of the pledge class of ’09 had left to study abroad and there wasn’t going to be a new pledge class until the spring.

I was pumped to hear about all of the activities and social events that the Sigmas would be participating in this semester such as Beach and Give.  They also mentioned countless other opportunities to get involved in the Trinity and San Antonio communities.  

Permission granted by Ashley Rice

After the meeting ended, everyone immediately ran up to each other in order to plan some dates. Intentionality is very important within Sigmas. As a result, it is vital that all of us become closely acquainted with one another. By date, I’m referring to a variety of activities that we do together such as exercising, eating dinner, walking our dogs and volunteer work.  My PC planned a dinner together to start the year off. It is important that there are no cliques and we all can work together smoothly especially because we are going to be rushing new girls this fall. We want to make sure that we are united as a PC so Rush 2010 is the best year yet.