City of St. Pete Helps Students Reach Their Full Potential

Our youth are critical to our future. Helping young people succeed helps our entire community thrive. Thanks to a $21,278 Youth Development Grant from the City of St. Petersburg’s My Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper initiative, children in South St. Pete are getting the support they need to succeed through our Foster Grandparent Program.

In direct alignment with St. Pete’s My Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper initiative, our Classroom Grandparent Program addresses persistent opportunity gaps faced by young people of color and ensures that all young people can reach their full potential.

Our Classroom Grandparents are senior-aged volunteers who support struggling students in Kindergarten through 3rd grade with one-on-one tutoring and mentoring, helping them build literacy and emotional intelligence skills needed for academic and lifelong success. Classroom Grandparents serve children in their classroom for the entire school year, offering consistency, trust, and stability that helps students develop a love for learning.

Classroom Grandparent Barbara Burnett, affectionately known as “Grandma B” to her students, has served as a Seniors in Service classroom volunteer for over six years. Recently inducted into St. Petersburg’s Senior Hall of Fame, Grandma B shared, “I love to help nurture the children and see how happy they get when they learn to read on their own, and it finally clicks.”

During this school year, our Pinellas Classroom Grandparents served at 14 schools in 65 classrooms, providing more than 320 students with intensive, ongoing one-on-one tutoring and mentoring. Thanks to the City of St. Petersburg’s Youth Development Grant, we are training and mobilizing more volunteers to reach even more students, creating a brighter future for our community where all can succeed.