Nearly every morning at UNLV, you’ll see groups of young children from Paradise Professional Development School (PDS) make their way to the Teacher Development and Resources Library, tucked away in the William D. Carlson Education building. 

Inside, you’ll hear UNLV education majors ask questions like, “What would happen if we add an ‘e’ at the end of the word?” as they work with the children to explain concepts like long and short vowels. These one-on-one sessions between elementary and university students are transforming literacy instruction into an engaging learning opportunity.

Through a partnership with the Clark County School District, faculty and students from the College of Education annually engage in over 50 research-to-service initiatives. 

The literacy instructional support program is a service-learning component of the EDRL 442 and 443 courses taken by senior students. It’s a win-win: Elementary education majors develop their teaching strategy, and nearly 75% of all Paradise students receive individualized attention to build their literacy skills each school year. 

“Being pre-service teachers, UNLV students understand that education is not just a practice of content, but a practice of connecting with children and understanding their needs beyond the content. That's something that's come out of this partnership,” says Sophie Ladd, an associate professor of literacy and the liaison to Paradise PDS. 

Cultivating the Rebel Spirit

The literacy program cultivates a sense of pride and curiosity among Paradise students by offering them exposure to a university setting. They get to visit the UNLV Teacher Development Resources Library and peek at the future opportunities that can come by improving their reading skills. 

“The kids are delighted to come; they feel proud because they can one day be a Rebel on our campus,” Ladd says.

Creating Real-World Experiences

The young learners don’t see the UNLV students as just tutors — they treat them as if they were full-time teachers. In turn, UNLV students step into teaching roles, conducting regular assessments and creating detailed lesson plans for each session.

EDRL 443 instructor Cherish Olson explains, “This is one of the first opportunities [the UNLV education majors] get to be hands on. They learn about reading and writing strategies, implement them with a student, and they do an assessment portfolio on that student. It's like a microcosm for their future classrooms.”

Building Personal Connections

The morning sessions aren’t all business — part of the experience is letting the children make a personal connection with an adult in a positive learning environment. Paradise students eagerly share stories about their friends, Minecraft YouTubers, their hamsters, and even the survival odds against venomous snakes. The UNLV students reciprocate by sharing bits of their lives, from vacation plans to their favorite animals.

“One of the coolest things about this program is seeing not only the UNLV students growing before my eyes, but the Paradise students, too,” Olson says. “It’s so rewarding to see my students implementing the things they're learning and making improvements in the moment based on what their student is doing.”

Impacting Future Teachers

Elementary education major Megan Coultas is in her second semester working in the literacy program. 

Coultas says, “This time allows for us to practice and have help from professors if we need it so we’ll be able to succeed on our own one day. I’ve learned that sometimes we teachers are the only ones supporting these kids and cheering them on until they pass that finish line.”

So far, Coultas has provided five children with individualized literacy instruction — the first of many in her future teaching career. “These students from Paradise have a really special place in my heart,” she says.

The morning sessions extend their impact well beyond the walls of the Teacher Development and Resources Library, contributing to the future trajectories of both UNLV educators and Paradise elementary students.

As the literacy instructor overseeing both sets of students, Olson sums it up best: “There's something magical that happens when the Paradise students step foot onto the UNLV campus.”