Reading Partners, a national nonprofit that trains community volunteers to provide students with proven, individualized reading support urges more community members to join its efforts starting this month, which is National Mentoring Month.
National Mentoring Month focuses attention on the need for mentors and “how each of us”—individuals, businesses, government agencies, schools, faith communities and nonprofits—can work together to increase the number of mentors to boost positive outcomes for our young people in our community.
The literacy organization has been providing proven volunteer-led, one-on-one reading support to under-resourced public elementary schools since 1997. The program seeks to serve more than 250 students in 6 schools in Pasadena, but over 90 students are waiting to be matched with a volunteer reading partner.
Today, only one in four Pasadena fourth graders are reading at grade level. Reading Partners is working closely with Pasadena Unified School District as well as local communities to ensure more students are on-track to read at grade-level.
“While we’re proud that our program has been shown by rigorous research to boost reading proficiency, what is also so important is the socio-emotional benefits and boost in confidence our students see as a result of the one-on-one relationship they build with their reading partner. Over 99% of students in our program who were rated by their teachers as having low or very low confidence increased their confidence level by year’s end last year.” says Laura Zachar, executive director of Reading Partners Los Angeles. “This is the kind of mentorship that can have a lifelong impact on a child.”
Reading Partners Los Angeles is looking for volunteers to commit to at least an hour a week to work individually with children who struggle with reading at one of 6 schools in Pasadena:
• Cleveland Elementary 524 Palisade St., Pasadena
• Washington Elementary 1520 N Raymond Ave., Pasadena
• Madison Elementary 515 Ashtabula St., Pasadena
• Jefferson Elementary 1500 E Villa St., Pasadena
• Don Benito Fundamental School 3700 Denair St., Pasadena
• Jackson Elementary 593 W Woodbury Rd., Altadena
To learn more, email [email protected] or call (213) 399-8599.
About Reading Partners
Reading Partners empowers students to succeed in reading and in life by engaging community volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring. The national nonprofit organization will provide individualized literacy tutoring to more than 10,000 elementary school students in under-resourced schools across ten states and the District of Columbia in 2016. Visit www.readingpartners.org, or connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, to learn more.
