Ron MacLeod’s Reading Partners story

No matter what we venture to learn or discover, reading is our starting point. Yet, only 20 percent of third-graders in Tulsa Public Schools read at grade level. Volunteers like Ron MacLeod are often introduced to the literacy crisis and how it is affecting so many Tulsa students when they begin volunteering with Reading Partners. 

For many years, Ron and his wife Marcia, mentored students and sponsored activities at Hawthorne Elementary through her employer. When Reading Partners opened a reading center at Hawthorne in 2014, Ron wasted no time in signing up.

I chose to become a Reading Partner because reading has been such a big part of my education and life.

“If students don’t have a good reading foundation, their path in education will only become more difficult over time. As a volunteer, I can see that Reading Partners is structured to address these challenges,” says Ron.

Even with other commitments in the community, Ron continues to choose to invest both time and treasure to Reading Partners year after year. 

“My wife and I have been blessed with good jobs and conservative financial matters,” Ron explains. “This has allowed us to donate to causes that we fully support, and have a positive impact in the community. I’m happy to support Reading Partners this way.” 

For Ron, the real contribution is personal time. After six years of volunteering with Reading Partners, he has seen how contributing an hour a week to work with students in the program is a meaningful interaction that has a significant return on investment. Because he has seen firsthand the power consistent one-on-one time with a student can have on a young child’s confidence and reading proficiency, Ron now volunteers with the program for at least two hours each week. 

“Each year I have different students who bring their own identities to the reading center,” he says. “Seeing their improvement throughout the year encourages me. But the highlight every year is when they tell me that they like to read.” 

This year, Reading Partners and community volunteers are supporting children who are struggling to read with one-on-one support so they can reach their full potential. You can support Reading Partners in serving 1,700 students this year by making an investment in Tulsa students by donating or volunteering for an hour a week today.