For Linda Hawkins, who has volunteered with the L.J. Bell Growing Readers program for three years, the reward isn’t about an annual ceremony, but the actual hours she spent in class.

“It’s the sheer joy of helping a child improve their reading,” Hawkins said. “It’s the love that you feel from them, and that you want to give to them. It’s a joy just to come and feel the appreciation they show you.”

For L.J. Bell students, there is a wealth of people like Hawkins in and around Rockingham who are willing to step out and make a sacrifice for a child.

They were thanked at a luncheon Friday, featuring guest speaker North Carolina Board of Education Chairman Dr. William Harrison.

“One of the things that has really struck me over the years is those that read, and those who choose to read, are more successful than their counterparts,” Harrison said at the event. “And I can amend that to say those that have opportunities to read and those that are read to from an early age have a much higher probability of being successful. That is where the work that you do comes in.”

He said parental and community involvement is part of three essential elements a school must have to do justice for its students, as well as strong leadership and faculty.

“Just to see the number of you who have given the amount of time that you have spent all year come here and celebrate is very encouraging, and it tells me that this is a great school,” Harrison said.

Along with Harrison, attendees were treated to a choral performance by the students and were delivered gifts and hugs.

“We really do appreciate everything that you do,” L.J. Bell Principal Bobbie Sue Ormsby told the audience as they ate lunch under tents outside the school. “And we hope you’ll come back next year.”

In a brief address, Richmond County Board of Education Chairman Kenneth Goodman said the payoff may not always be as immediate as what Hawkins described, but it is well worth the hours put forth by volunteers.

“You really can’t tell the benefits of your volunteerism right away, but down the road, when these students are getting scholarships for $50,000, $60,000 or $70,000, they will owe a part of that scholarship to you for the work that you’ve done,” Goodman said.

Richmond County Schools Superintendent Dr. George Norris called the Growing Readers program “the best volunteer program I’ve ever seen during my time at public schools.”

First grade L.J. Bell teacher Barbara Brown illustrated the importance the program has gained at the school with the story of an anonymous student.

“He had struggled on and off throughout the year, not only with his ability to read, but with his attitude about reading,” she said. “... But recently, he has really opened up and blossomed as a growing reader. That’s what the volunteers bring to the first and second grades students of L.J. Bell.”

For more information about Growing Readers, or to get in on the rewards of helping a young student read, contact Program Coordinator Millie Wall at 417-5559.

Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 32, or by e-mail at pbrown@yourdailyjournal.com.