January 5, 2017
Mentoring Month provides perfect opportunity to take action to support early literacy in Sacramento
For Immediate Release
Contact: Rachel Minnick, Executive Director, Reading Partners Sacramento
(916) 220-7224, rachel.minnick@
January is National Mentoring Month and 200 students in Sacramento are waiting to be matched with volunteer reading partners
(Sacramento, CA – January 5, 2017) — January is National Mentoring Month, and Reading Partners is encouraging more community members to join its efforts to provide students in under-resourced schools with the tutoring and mentorship they need to become proficient readers by the fourth grade. A proven national nonprofit that mobilizes community volunteers to work one-on-one with struggling readers, Reading Partners aims to serve 540 students in Sacramento in the 2016-17 school year. Currently, there are over 200 students at 10 local elementary schools waiting to be matched with tutors. Mentoring month is the perfect time to get involved.
Across Sacramento, only 26 percent of fourth graders from low-income families are reading at grade level. Reading is the foundation for all future learning and Reading Partners tutors provide the individualized literacy support and mentorship to help students make the all-important shift from learning to read to reading to learn.
“At Reading Partners, you work with the same student every week. It’s more than just a literacy program, it’s a way for you to show a child that you care and that you believe in him or her,” said Rachel Minnick, executive director of Reading Partners Sacramento. “Every week, I see the little triumphs that happen when a child learns a new vocabulary word or reads an entire book by themselves and their tutor is right by their side applauding their success. I also see tutors giving words of encouragement when a student struggles to learn a new concept. All it takes is one caring adult to help a student see their true potential and our program makes it really easy to be a positive mentor.”
Reading Partners volunteers utilize an easy-to-follow, individualized lesson plan each week, specific to their students’ needs in order to meet them at their level and help build both literacy skills and confidence. Reading Partners Sacramento has an immediate need for volunteer tutors who can commit at least an hour a week to work with students in the following schools:
Robla School District
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Bell Avenue Elementary 1900 Bell Ave, Sacramento, CA 95838
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Glenwood Elementary 201 Jessie Ave, Sacramento, CA 95838
Sacramento City Unified
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Bret Harte Elementary 2751 9th Ave, Sacramento, CA 95818
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Ethel Phillips Elementary 2930 21st Ave, Sacramento, CA 95820
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H.W. Harkness Elementary 2147 54th Ave, Sacramento, CA 95822
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Pacific Elementary 6201 41st St, Sacramento, CA 95824
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Peter Burnett Elementary 6032 36th Ave, Sacramento, CA 95824
Twin Rivers Unified
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Michael J. Castori Elementary 1801 South Ave, Sacramento, CA 95838
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Northwood Elementary 2630 Taft St, Sacramento, CA 95815
To learn more, please email Shannon Butler at shannon.butler@
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 proven, individualized literacy tutoring to more than 11,000 elementary school students in under-resourced schools across ten states and the District of Columbia in the 2016-17 school year. Visit readingpartners.org, or connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, to learn more.
