The volunteers are ready — get students reading now

For the after-school reading program I conducted at the Boys & Girls Clubs on Alto Street for 18 years, I never lacked for volunteer tutors. The reason was mainly because I accommodated the time requirements of the volunteers and did not require reams of paperwork or hours of training. If the public schools operated in the same way, some or many of those dedicated, intelligent, educated volunteer tutors would have been at one of the schools.

Three years ago, I was forced to abandon the program when the club moved to a much smaller facility. There was, I was told, no space for the reading program. Now, there are lots of potential volunteer tutors and mentors, such as myself, who want to help if they can find a flexible situation like the one I offered. Over the years I conducted the program, I had many dozens of tutors, and we helped hundreds of first- and secondgraders learn to read or read better.

Volunteers included retired teachers, attorneys, medical doctors, nurses, published writers, artists and others. The “trick” to doing a program like this is a facility that makes it convenient for children to get there, such as the library or cafeteria or other large room in a school. Because the children were bused to the club after school, my costs were for books (which a school already has), worksheets that are fun, flashcards, plain paper, pencils and crayons. Oh yes, and a large envelope or folder for each child.

I tried to do this kind of free reading program at the Southside Branch Library, but it had to be on Saturday so parents could bring their children. A hard day for them. I could accommodate only 10 children. I always had enough volunteers so that no one ever had more than two children to help. Some days I had to let volunteers go because the parent would not show up. I never had to turn away a child for lack of a volunteer.

My point? Let’s provide tutoring help right now for every first- and secondgrade child that needs it. Brush aside all the rules of the public schools that stop volunteers from signing up for a tutoring program. Public schools: It is up to you to do whatever it takes to bring in lots more volunteers to tutor our children.

I am available for whatever it takes to get our kids on track. So are a lot of other people. Forget excuses. Let’s just do it, and before January.