Education professor receives Governor’s Volunteer Service Award

Bruce Taylor, an associate professor in the College of Education Department of Reading and Elementary Education, is among the 2016 recipients of the Governor’s Volunteer Service Award.

This honor, created in 1979, recognizes individuals, groups and businesses that make a significant contribution to their community through volunteer service.

Taylor was nominated by the United Way of Central Carolinas for his work with the United Way’s Project 1,000 effort.

According to the United Way, Taylor has displayed an “overwhelming commitment to helping the youth of our community achieve their reading goals. He has personally mentored and tutored many students from basic reading skills to helping with specific areas of need. He also provides volunteer literacy training for community volunteers that are interested in tutoring students through Project 1,000. With the help of Dr. Taylor’s expertise, we have been able to train over 540 literacy tutor volunteers with at-risk students in our area since the beginning of the initiative in 20012. Dr. Taylor is leading the way by example and also providing the resources for others to get involved.”

Mecklenburg County-area Governor’s Volunteer Service Award recipients were honored at a breakfast recently and received two tickets to the April 17 Charlotte Knights baseball game, where they were acknowledged prior to the contest.