Popular Reading Program Needs Volunteers

Read with Me Volunteer Programs needs volunteers

Extraordinary things happen when extraordinary men and women volunteer to inspire and help under-resourced children from low-income communities set an educational path towards a successful future.

This has been achieved over and over again through the nonprofit Read With Me Volunteer Programs since 2004 when Roberta and Clay Klein started the organization realizing a need to assist local children from limited English-speaking environments develop to their fullest potential by learning to read, comprehend and speak English.  Students in grades K-6 read to the volunteer and then the volunteer helps with pronunciation and comprehension by asking questions.

There are 17 schools representing the Coachella Valley, Tahoe, and Reno in the RWMVP program.  In 2015, Cathedral City Elementary School (CCES) in the Palm Springs Unified School District joined the volunteer program.  Six enthusiastic individuals stepped up to aid teachers and tutor the students.  At CCES the student population is 91% Hispanic or Latino; 99% are socioeconomically disadvantaged; and 44% are English learners.

During the second year of operating RWMVP at CCES, the program doubled from the original six volunteers to 13 volunteers.  As more and more of the classroom teachers recognized the benefits of these aides helping them, the program grew to 72 volunteers in 2019.  Then Covid hit and volunteers were no longer allowed on the school campus as what happened at all schools.  After a two-year hiatus, RWMVP volunteers are welcomed back to the campuses.  Recent studies have shown that when students work with RSMVP volunteers, reading test scores are almost 50% higher than those students who did not have the extra help.

Many students fell behind in their studies because of the COVID-19 shutdown and resulting remote learning.  RWMVP now needs a bigger volunteer force to successfully meet the challenges of getting students back on track to reading at grade-level. For example, CCES currently has 50 RWMVP tutors, but could use at least 25 more.  And that is just for ONE school.  Fully vaccinated volunteers are asked to donate one or two hours a week in a one-on-one mentoring situation or in small groups for eight weeks or more.

Currently, more than 100 volunteers are needed to fill the gap at all the Read With Me represented elementary schools.

“Read With Me is an amazing organization that has a proven track record of recruiting, training, and transporting senior volunteers,” said Bruce Titcomb, Volunteer Coordinator at John Kelley Elementary.  “As a Read With Me volunteer, I have witnessed first-hand how these skilled volunteers have dramatically improved the lives and reading abilities of young students in the Valley.”

For more information on how to become a Read With Me Volunteer Program volunteer please visit their website at www.readwithmevolunteers.com.  Or contact Rachel Luiz, Administrator and Regional Volunteer Coordinator at 818-427-8129 or readwithmerachel@gmail.com