Viewpoints: Spread the joy of reading, and help us all, by tutoring

By Greg Lucas
Special to The Bee

Published: Tuesday, Sep. 9, 2014 - 12:00 am

One out of every four adults around the world can’t read a newspaper. Or share a bedtime story with a child. Or follow the instructions on a bottle of medicine.

Nearly a half-century after International Literacy Day was organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on Sept. 8, 1966, there are still 775 million adults on this planet who lack minimum literacy skills, according to the World Literacy Foundation.

Among them are an estimated 36 million adults in the United States who can’t read beyond the fourth-grade level. More than 4.5 million of them are Californians.

According to ProLiteracy, low literacy costs this country more than $225 billion each year in workforce nonproductivity and loss of tax revenue due to unemployment.

Low adult literacy contributes to a wide range of social ills. The No. 1 determiner of a kid’s success is the literacy of his or her parents. A high percentage of prison inmates and those living in poverty test at the lowest literacy levels.

Of all the life skills acquired, reading might be the one most taken for granted. By those who can read, anyway.

Gov. Jerry Brown has proclaimed September “Adult Literacy Awareness Month” in honor of the 30th anniversary of California Library Literacy Services, a program of the California State Library.

Public libraries are hosting events this month to address the very serious issue of low adult literacy as part of a statewide awareness campaign called “Together, California Reads.” It’s an effort to spotlight inspirational adult learners and the trained volunteer tutors who change lives forever by sharing the gift of reading through free, one-on-one and group sessions at more than 500 local public libraries.

Roughly 10,000 volunteer tutors teach adult learners to read and write at public libraries all over California. The supply of tutors isn’t enough to meet demand. Nearly 4,000 eager-to-learn California adults are wait-listed statewide, all wanting to read but stymied by a lack of volunteer tutors.

Magic happens when learners and tutors come together. There’s no other way to describe it. Learners’ lives are fundamentally and irrevocably changed by their increased literacy and the newfound realization of their potential as family leaders, workers and community members.

What’s also magical is how the lives of tutors change. Listen to Judi Cunha, a volunteer tutor from San Andreas:

“We don’t have a clue how graced we are to have some of the skills we have until we see people who don’t have those same skills. … To be able to share a skill with somebody. To be able to help a person get impassioned about their own life. There’s just nothing like it. There’s nothing like it in the world.”

Judi and other volunteer tutors share their experiences at CalReads.org.

Better yet, create your own magic. Become a volunteer. It’s simple. Halfway through editing this piece, I stopped and called the public library in Sacramento where I live. Within a few minutes I was signed up for my initial training.

See firsthand how California’s public libraries change lives by changing someone’s life yourself. Give the gift of reading. And see how much you get back in return.

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Greg Lucas is the California State Librarian.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/09/09/6689861/viewpoints-spread-the-joy-of-reading.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/09/09/6689861/viewpoints-spread-the-joy-of-reading.html

July Accomplishments

July Accomplishments 2014

This July, Project READ learners and tutors were honored at our Annual BBQ & Awards Ceremony. Over 300 learners, tutors, families and community members attended this year’s BBQ & Awards Ceremony! Making this event a success was a collaborative effort, and we so appreciate the 55 volunteers who dedicated their time and talents. These dedicated folks assisted on Friday with set up and preparation and then also on Saturday in a myriad of jobs that truly made the day a memorable experience!

As guests arrived bearing potluck dishes, our festive welcome committee, decked out in elaborate crustacean costumes, pointed them on their way. Families looked on in awe as they saw the CommunityActivities Building at Red Morton Park, transformed into an under-the-sea wonderland. The decorations were created throughout the year by Project READ’s youth, both learners and tutors, and many adult volunteers who wanted to make this celebration of community and accomplishment special and memorable.

As families walked amidst giant sea turtles, jellyfish and rainbow fish, they had the chance to meet and greet some of the members of the Redwood City Friends of Literacy who were handing out inflatable fish to take home. They then got to participate in the "Guess How Many Fish..." game. The highlight though was when each family received their very own hardbound copy of Wow Ocean!, and also selected books for each individual to take home for continued summer reading fun!

Families then encountered a life size whale that joined them for their family portraits. Children and adults enjoyed several thematic crafts that helped build fine motor and sequencing skills. Once outside, some families lounged under the trees listening to the festive mix of music provided by DJ Tim, others enjoyed the opportunity to get their faces painted, eat cotton candy, or try their hand at beanbag and quarterback toss. Children and adults also participated in the outdoor relays, capture the flag, steal the bacon and parachute games. Our last game though, drew only children and there wasn't a dry kid in the park after we finished with duck, duck, sponge!

However, the most exciting part of the day was when the crowd was introduced to the newest recipients of the Spirit of Project READ award! We recognized nine recent high school graduates who have given back to their community through their service at Project READ.

Teen Tutor Award Recipients

Youth, particularly teens and tweens, play an integral part of our Project READ community, as learners, family members and tutors. This year alone over 100 teens actively tutored in our Project READ programs. Among them these teens have stood out due to their years of dedication, hours of commitment and by their own personal achievements. In addition to their own school work, after-school jobs, internships, volunteer projects and family obligations, these young people managed to dedicate their own time to help tutor and mentor younger students. Some of these teens have tutored in multiple youth programs through Project READ; most continued to tutor even through the summer. We have watched these students grow into transformative members of this community, truly future leaders. Many of these teens have been a part of Project READ since they themselves were little ones being tutored in our programs or watching mom or dad being tutored. They then took the initiative to become tutors themselves. Now they are preparing to go off to college, most the first in their families to do so. In the fall they will be heading off to Foothill College, the College of San Mateo, Cañada College, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley, Linden College and Cal Poly. The crowd, including Redwood City’s Mayor, Jeffrey Gee, was thrilled to congratulate these exceptional youth who truly exemplify the Spirit of Project READ!

Summer FLIC

This month close to 30 K-4^th graders were paired with 30 Teen Tutors during our week-long summer program. The theme of the week this year was California, so students learned about history, facts and geography related to California. As a whole group, the students experimented with earthquakes, learned about the Gold Rush, cooked with locally grown and distributed foods. In this literacy-based program, students took part in many varied enrichment activities, ranging from science experiments to cooking projects.

Each day students worked in small groups, as well as with their one-in-one match to work on reading, math, science, health-literacy, technology and educational game play. Sessions were set up as whole group and small group learning, with learning stations that varied throughout the day. Students started the week off learning about CA state facts, and then traveled through history to learn about the Great Earthquake and migrant workers, gold mining and more. Each day students broke into small groups for a short book club, reading together a California themed book. As a whole group students created an edible map of the state, using CA based foods to represents the physical features of the state.  Each group presented information about different California cities and taught their peers about their city. We ended the week with a California carnival, which started with a scavenger hunt around the library and ended with food, dessert and an awards ceremony.

After the three-hour program ended each day, the teens were invited to stay on for another hour of Teen Hour. During this time, teens honed their tutoring skills, previewed games and crafts for the next day, prepared food for their little learners and worked on team building. Many of our teens volunteered 20 hours of time to Project READ in that week alone.

Project READ May 2014 Accomplishments

Project READ Family Literacy Instructional Center TEENS

The end of the year is an exciting time here at Project READ, as we watch some of our long-term learners and tutors graduate from middle school and high school.

This year, 10 of our teen tutors are graduating and all heading off to four year- and community colleges. They will be greatly missed, but their impact is lasting.

This past semester we had 45 active teen and preteen tutors in our Family Literacy Center youth tutoring program, totaling 860 hours of tutoring and mentoring.  Over the past school year these teen and preteen tutors dedicated over 2,000 hours of community service as youth tutors at Project READ. These young people are modeling positive learning experiences, the value of community service and a love of literacy to our youngest learners. Their dedication is exemplified through the astounding number of hours that these students have committed to Project READ.  As a result seven of our outstanding teens were awarded the Sequoia Award for community service, several other teens have been awarded internships, scholarships and grants for their hours of community service. Congratulations to all of our graduating Seniors!!! We’re excited to see what amazing futures they will have.

Joy (Learner & Teen Tutor), Maryanne (Tutor), Cesia (Learner & Teen Tutor)

FLIC/FFL Story Hour

This past month over 60 Project READ learners, families and friends gathered together to take part in Story Hour. Students crafted along side community volunteers and HOBA volunteers. Children created gifts for their mothers in honor of Mother’s Day, using recycled and household items, so that these preliteracy crafts could be replicated at home and shared together with their families. “Off We Go To Mexico,” was our family book, given to each family that attended. The children’s band, Cotton Candy Express performed for our families, which included students getting on stage with the band, playing instruments and singing along. It was an evening enjoyed by all.

Book Club

This month our community partners, the Junior League, helped us offer two book clubs for our youngest learners, which served approximately 25 students. Our middle school tutors also helped by taking part in reading along with the chosen book and assisting the young students with the theme-based craft.  Students were able to take home a new book each Book Club to build their home library and take part in a related pre-literacy craft. Siblings and friends read alongside their tutors in a round table format.

Kids In Partnership:

Teen Tutor Trip to UC Santa Cruz & Beach Boardwalk

After polling our teen tutors, we found that the majority this year were interested in visiting UC Santa Cruz (this included two seniors who had been admitted and were deciding whether or not to enroll, but who had not yet visited the campus due to family constraints). Thirty-two teens gave up a whole day of spring break to travel to the campus! Project READ staff and UCSC alum, Cassandra, led a tour of the campus and fielded questions. The teens also enjoyed lunch at an on-campus eatery and then spent a few hours relaxing and having fun at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk!

KIP Tutors and Learners Celebrate Their Year of Hard Work

As the school year approaches its end, KIP pairs and small groups took the opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments with an outdoor spring carnival. Over 70 youth participated in two days of good old-fashioned fun including potato sack races, picture decorating, beanbag toss and a sponge-ball relay! Students also exchanged heart-felt notes and well-wishes in the “friends and memories” section of the annual KIP science and cooking project book. One KIP mom reported that her daughter regularly takes over the kitchen to make the recipes for her family. Mom’s favorite so far is the smoothie that her daughter made for the whole family!

KIP Award Night

KIP pairs and small groups had the opportunity to celebrate all of their hard work and accomplishments at our annual KIP Award Night! Over 150 students, tutors, and family members gathered at the Fair Oaks Cafeteria to celebrate the hard work and achievements of the KIP participants.  Lori and RJ of Cotton Candy Express kicked the evening off with a group sing-along. In fact, one of our most timid, first-grade students, took our breath away when she volunteered to sing along to Disney’s Let it Go. Not only did she know every word, but she sang it beautifully and then beamed when the whole cafeteria erupted in applause for her!

Teen tutors presented each learner with a handmade, personalized award certificate highlighting their specific contributions and accomplishments during this KIP year. Likewise, staff presented each tutor with a custom-made award as a small token of our appreciation for their hard work and dedication.

Teen Tutors Reflect on a Year of Service

Below are some of the tutors’ reflections on their experiences in KIP this year:

"I love being able to build that relationship with my learner and I’m proud that I was able to help my partner get out of her shell."

"As a teen tutor, I have learned how to help kids without giving them the answer...I have loved seeing my student improve over the past two years."

 “I helped my learner learn how to do math in a different way." 

"I love getting to know all f the kids and helping them with their work. I like the community and appreciation I feel when I come to KIP.” 

“I have learned how to successfully teach reading comprehension and math. I have also learned how to approach difficult situations and talk to the learners in a respectful way.”

All in all, the KIP teen tutors contributed over 1500 hours of community service to the KIP program this school year!

Project READ - Adult Literacy Computer Lab:

We had 8 new adult learners to Project READ who have committed to working on their literacy skills using Lexia - Reading S.O.S, a phonics based reading program and Rosetta Stone to build vocabulary and grammar skills. Of our adults waiting for a one-on-one match,many now regularly come in to work on building their skills; in May they logged in over 139 hours of computer use.

Families In Partnership:

As we are approaching the summer we have a lot to celebrate in the Families in Partnership Program. We presented the participants of our Sequoia High School SAFE/Project READ partnership pilot program with awards for their dedication and hard work throughout the year. The end of the year reading assessments showed great educational strides for our Kindergarten learners! The learners averaged an increase of 2.0 reading levels over a six-month period! Our tutors expressed great gratification and shared their favorite parts of the program in their exit interviews.

Some of the quotes are:

“Seeing how my learner changed, he went from being shy to more talkative and comfortable” 

“The fact that I was able to have a relationship with my learner. I looked forward to it every week.”

We were excited to learn that most of the tutors and learners are interested in returning next year.  This new partnership has been a great addition to our duel intervention youth programming.