AMERICA READS
(Pete Porter - RSVP)

At the time of writing, Linda Flewellen was the volunteer coordinator for a program called "America Reads" that has now been running for the past two years within the Torrance school district. The program continues to expand, with Fern Elementary School recently joining Anza, Carr and 'Torrance Elementary Schools. There are now thirty-five RSVP volunteers providing much needed one-on-one and group reading help under the "America Reads" program at Grades 1-5 one to two days a week at each of these schools. I was privileged to be in attendance when twenty-one of these enthusiastic people attended a presentation by Becky Tan at Torrance Elementary on some of the ways to present the reading material they might use in their sessions with the children.

Becky Tan gave her presentation,	after I interviewed some of the attendees.

In talkirg to the attendees before the presentation I was impressed with the enthusi asm that they each brought to the program. Many expressed the point that they got as much joy out of their sessions with their students as the students themselves.

The experience level of the volunteers I talked to ranged all the way from Norma Couch at one day to Bernie Slotnick who had been involved in a similar endeavor at Hawthorne for four years prior to starting with "America Reads" two years ago. Before starting at the classroom level, volunteers are given training sessions in technique and what to expect. They then generally start out under supervision with students in the First Grade before expanding into other Grade levels and specialties. For example, Debra Dzegue tod me that she has now completed two years at Carr Elementary She progressed to tutoring second grade students after starting with the first grade but has now returned to first grade. She told me that many of the first grade students that she helped in that first year now come up to her at recess as second grade students to proudly tell her that they are now reading at level 24! Talk about positive feedback! Another volunteer, Bob Slater, has been at Torrance Elementary since February. Bob pointed out that it was only after he got into the program that he realized that the process of reading is a lot more than deciphering how the "words" sound. he noted that the children who only figure that part out sometimes tend to read the words without realizing how punctuation can change the meaning of a sentence and he stressed that he now knows that it is just as important to emphasize this aspect as well. Some of the volunteers noted that they have classes containing children who come from homes where their foreign-born parents cannot read even in their own language or, even worse, do not care whether their children learn. Luckily, there is a strong response from these students to the one-on-one sessions that these volunteers are able to give them. Mary Walker started tutoring at Torrance Elementary last September at the first grade level. She says that most of the kids that she sees speak English, but that there was one little girl who initially spoke only Spanish but has really come on "like house on fire" since starting the program.

Talking individually to all those in attendance, I came away with the distinct impression that they had all found a real calling in life by being involved in the "America Reads" program. They all felt that the ability to read opened the door to everything and that it was wonderful to see how much the students faces glowed once they realize the joy they can get from this activity. However, there is always a need to expand the volunteer base and

Linda told me that sometime before November she hopes to expand the program to include Annalee Elementary School in Carson. Linda said that other Torrance schoo s may a so sign up as the word gets out about all the positive effects that the "America Reads" program is starting to have. If you know anyone who may be interested or if you would like to get involved yourself, I encourage you to contact Linda at the RSVP office - she'll be happy to take your call.

Back to Archive List.