An Open Book: St. Louis University Senior Patrick Bausch Secures Grant for Caroline Mission to Help Improve Literacy
Program: Early Childhood Education
When Patrick Bausch first started volunteering at Unleashing Potential’s early childhood education center Caroline Mission, one of the children, Jesse, would throw up his arms whenever Patrick entered and would exclaim, “Mr. Patrick, read me a book!”
So, two years later, when Patrick applied for a grant through the honors program, he was inspired to give back to Caroline Mission by helping advance their goals of meeting developmental needs in literacy.
The Investigative Learning Experience (ILEX) grant through the St. Louis University Honors program funds up to $1,200 for student-led projects in the St. Louis community. Patrick applied during his junior year and underwent a rigorous six-month process. Now, as a senior, he gets to reap the fruit of his hard work: The grant was awarded him, a full $1,200, and he is implementing it.
When Patrick was inspired to give back to Caroline Mission by helping advance their goals of meeting developmental needs in literacy.
Helping to Improve Literacy in Children
The project is two-pronged: For the first prong, Patrick purchased books and brought them to Caroline Mission. Each classroom received between 40 and 50 books.
The second prong involves distribution. Parents received four to five books to take home to read to their children. If a parent reads any of the books five times, and provides a check-sheet indicating they’ve read the book five times, their children can pick up another book from among the titles.
The aim of the project is that more children have the literacy skills they need by the time they reach kindergarten.
With the remaining funds, Patrick plans to replace the books children select and keep the cycle going.
Patrick still comes out a couple of times a week to read to the children. The aim of the project is that more children have the literacy skills they need by the time they reach kindergarten.
Making an Impact for St. Louis
Patrick first became involved with Caroline Mission through the Micah Program at St. Louis University, a program focused on St. Louis University’s pillars of service, academics, community, interfaith and leadership. The program partners freshman and sophomore students with local St. Louis nonprofits to develop their understanding of social justice and other issues.
The second oldest of seventeen cousins, Patrick is used to being around little kids, so he was excited by Caroline Mission. And his mother does a lot of work with childhood literacy (“she’s read something like 50,000 books to us a kids,” he said), so advocating for literacy made sense to him.
Moreover, as an urban studies minor looking to go into nonprofit law, he appreciates the practical implications from the Caroline Mission staff to respond to some of the impacts of government legislation on St. Louis City.
“If you have the drive and desire to make an impact, there are lots of people and lots of organizations that are willing to make that happen to help you out,” Patrick said. “The work Unleashing Potential does, top to bottom, from administration to staff to allowing volunteers to come in makes a tremendous impact on community.”
Patrick’s Tips for Keeping Kids Engaged when Reading to Them
- Include the kids. If there is a picture of a dog on the page, point it out to them and ask, “Is that a dog?” When you finish reading a page, have them turn to the next.
- Use lots of fun voices, and make sound effects.
- Make the story come to life. If the story involves going on a bear hunt, for example, get the kids involved by having them march.
