Volunteer organization seeks reading tutors for Silicon Valley, South Bay schools

Originally published by the Mountain View Patch.
By Susan C. Schena

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA – Reading Partners, a nonprofit organization that pairs volunteers with students struggling with reading skills, is seeking Silicon Valley and South Bay residents to work as one-on-one tutors.

Currently, there are 363 students at 20 area elementary schools waiting for tutors, according to Reading Partners.

“Reading Partners gives Silicon Valley-area residents a way to show the students and families in low-income communities that we support them and are invested in their future as a part of our region,” said Aarika Riddle, Executive Director of Reading Partners Silicon Valley. “Supporting these communities that often have high immigrant populations is more important now than ever.”

How Reading Partners Works

Reading Partners volunteers are matched one-on-one with students in kindergarten through fourth grade who are reading anywhere from a few months to two-and-a-half years below grade level. 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.

Sixty-five percent of low-income third-graders in Silicon Valley cannot read at grade level, the organization said. “This has dire implications for our youngest generation. Students who can read at grade level by fourth grade are four times more likely to graduate high school than those who still lack basic reading skills.”

Interested? To become a Reading Partner’s tutor or to learn more, visit ReadingPartners.org.