Meringoff Family Foundation

NEW YORK CITY — A New York City reading program is giving dozens of teens jobs over the summer, teaching over 100 children how to read during the pandemic.

Organizers and parents say it’s a win-win approach to learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Six-year-old Grady Zabre, of Harlem, loves to read with his mom. But his mom, Summer Sheridan-Zabre, says she was concerned that Grady would fall behind during the pandemic.

Sheridan-Zambre enrolled her son in a free program run by Read Alliance, a nonprofit organization that matches kindergarten, first, and second graders in city public schools with teenagers who tutor them one-on-one.