Erik Eggland has been a mentor with Everybody Wins! Iowa at our Tuesday program at Findley Elementary since 2017. He said that he decided to join Everybody Wins! Iowa as a mentor because he “volunteered for EWI at the United Way Day of Giving for several years and decided to be a mentor after that. I am a firm believer in childhood reading as a vital part of development and EWI is all about this.”
He spoke about an example of how he has seen EWI’s mission of building the love of reading and self-confidence in students in action. “Each year I saw more confidence and willingness to read from my first student. He really came a long way. It became a source of great pride for him to show me that he could work his way through most any book on the reading cart.” He also says that thanks to one of his students, he now can be considered an expert on all types of animal “predators”. The Findley reading cart has no shortage of books about scary animals.”
He adds that EWI “is a great way to spend an hour per week. You receive much more than you give.” He says thank you to EWI for providing the opportunity and shares that “Education and literacy are critically important to the future of our world.”
Outside of his involvement with Everybody Wins! he is on the board of the Viking Foundation and works in Management for Bridgestone. He went to undergrad at Iowa State University and has an MBA from Drake. He also enjoys running, golf, technology and cars.
EWI thanks Erik for his commitment and dedication to literacy and mentoring. Thanks for all you do!