The Orlando Magic Youth Fund, a fund of the McCormick Foundation, recently awarded a grant to the Education Foundation-Osceola County in the amount of $20,000.

Funding for this grant will be used to help third-grade students in Osceola County raise their reading levels and prevent them from being retained. Bookmark Buddies, a literacy and mentoring program designed to improve children’s reading skills, will be the tool used to help raise reading levels.

Bookmark Buddies began in five schools with 35 students and is currently assisting more than 300 students with 250 volunteer mentors in 20 elementary schools. Also, the program has printed and distributed more than 4,000 “Reading A-Z” books to third-grade students.

The foundation has offered the program in partnership with the Osceola County School District for about nine years. Bookmark Buddies targets third-grade students who read below grade level and are at risk of scoring a Level 1 on the FCAT. Students are matched with a trained volunteer mentor and meet once a week for 30 minutes in the child’s school using reading materials selected for the child’s current reading level.

The mentor/student relationships are monitored throughout the school year to ensure students are adequately progressing and benefiting from participation in the program.

The Education Foundation-Osceola County is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting public education, teachers and students. Led by a volunteer board of directors, the foundation currently awards more than 100 scholarships each year to Osceola County graduates.

For more information on the foundation, visit www.foundationosceola.org.