The legendary North Side High School coach, now 80, sat at the front of the classroom Wednesday morning, ready to talk to a group of second-graders about the Amazon River.

Book in hand, eyes peering down at the students, By Hey engaged the Northcrest Elementary students in a discussion about South America’s largest river and the largest river in the United States. Hey settled in to read some chapters from “Afternoon on the Amazon” from the Magic Tree House book series.

Down the hall, 20-year-old Denison University student Joseph Desimone waited to work with his own group of students. Desimone couldn’t find a summer job, so he signed up to be a volunteer with Learn United, a 10-year effort by the United Way of Allen County to ensure that all students are reading at grade level by the end of third grade.

Wednesday was the first day volunteers worked with students at four sites in Fort Wayne Community Schools – Northcrest, Harrison Hill, Fairfield and Forest Park elementary schools. About 200 people are volunteering at least one hour each week until July 17, and many are doing more.

“It’s really, really exciting that that many people in the community want to volunteer,” said Susie Peirce, assistant volunteer coordinator for Learn United.

District officials invited 2,000 students to participate in the volunteer summer program based on their performance. About 1,200 students chose to take advantage of the program, Peirce said.

Teachers are in the classroom, but having volunteers – who have all been trained by United Way to work with students – at their disposal allows for more individualized and small-group instruction, Peirce said.

“I find when I (volunteer), the Lord opens my mind,” Hey said. “I have more blessings than those that I’m helping.”

In Allen County, 40 percent of low-income third-graders are not passing the reading portion of ISTEP+, and officials estimate that 74 percent will never catch up.

ksoderlund@jg.net