December 20, 2017

Reading Partners seeks tutors 50+

On November 2, Gen2Gen featured Reading Partners in this email sent to their large audience of subscribers:

“Just a few hours a week can create wonderful memories – and brighter futures.

Reading Partner volunteer Berte Schachter helps kids build literacy skills.“I can remember my dad working six days at a supermarket, coming home and dedicating a few hours a week for us to read together,” said Berte Schachter, a retired business librarian and researcher. “I still cherish those memories.”

Today Berte volunteers with Reading Partners in New York City, spending a few hours a week tutoring elementary students who struggle with reading — and recruiting others over 50 to do the same.

The kids need her. Just one in five students from low-income families is reading proficiently by fourth grade. And half the kids in public schools are from low-income families.

“We learn how to read like normal, instead of just like a robot.”

Reading Partners – a Gen2Gen campaign partner – trains more than 11,000 volunteers in 14 metro areas to provide the one-on-one attention that makes all the difference.

Last year, more than 80 percent of all Reading Partners students met or exceeded their end-of-year literacy goal, and 90 percent of the youngest students mastered key reading skills needed to read at grade level.

All that in just a few hours a week!

“You get to a certain place in your life where you have enough clothes, and you have gone on enough trips,” Berte said. “This experience reminds you that your stay on the planet should not be focused on one’s self. It’s about the future.”

Make it a brighter future for a child near you. Find out more about Reading Partners and sign up to volunteer here.