Not a teacher? Not a problem for volunteers who help kids read

Steven Harris says volunteering for RSVP’s America Reads program makes him feel as if “I am saving the world, one kid at a time.”

Harris and 178 other RSVP volunteers listen as first- through fourth-graders read to and with them at 65 Montgomery, Delaware and Chester County elementary schools.

A retired businessman, Harris visits first-graders at Marshall Street Elementary School in Norristown for three hours “as many days a week as I can when I’m not traveling. I travel three or four times a year for weeks at a time. Where else can you have something meaningful to do with such a schedule?”

America Reads volunteers commit to give at least one to two hours per week assisting classroom teachers. Usually volunteers work with students one-to-one or in small groups.

“I don’t read to the children; I assist them in learning how to read,” explained Dottie Fleming, an America Reads volunteer for six years. She works with kids in grades K-2 at Shady Grove Elementary School in Ambler. A retired financial analyst, she said she has been provided “excellent direction and instruction on how to help students learn to read.”

Not a Teacher? No Problem

Although America Reads is an activity well suited to retired teachers, teaching experience isn’t necessary. RSVP provides an annual three-hour workshop on how to coach young readers. Volunteers also receive materials, including strategies, activities and games. The program’s coordinators, Marion Silver for Montgomery County and Jackie Matusow for Chester and Delaware counties, are available as needed.

But the biggest support for America Reads volunteers is the teacher to whom they are assigned.

“The teacher provides the reading material and tells the volunteer what he or she hopes to accomplish with it,” said Silver. “Each school district has a specific strategy for teaching reading.”

“I find that if a volunteer has a joy of reading and wants to share that joy, they are perfect for us,” said Brenda Millette, a reading specialist at Media Elementary School in Delaware County. “I’ve never had an America Reads volunteer who is not outstanding.”

Sima Sussman, a retired secondary school English teacher, believes having classroom experience is “an advantage. But if you don’t have it, you can do well; I’m sure of it. You need to really enjoy young children, elementary students, and have patience.”

Sussman has worked for four years with kids in grades K-2 at McKinley Elementary School in the Abington School District.

Why It’s Important

“Having someone read one-to-one with a child is golden. Sometimes a student is struggling just because they don’t keep their eyes on the pages and get distracted. When they read one-on-one with someone, their attention is on the story, and they make great progress,” said Millette.

“When I’m bringing students to work in my room, sometimes they ask if there will be an extra person,” she said. “When there is, they clamor to be first or make sure they get a turn. Having an extra visitor who is kind and compassionate and gives extra attention to the person doing the reading is a real joy to the child.”

America Reads volunteers help kids in small ways.

“Once I was reading with a little boy about caterpillars and their suction cups and how that lets them crawl,” recalled Diane Pluff, a volunteer at Indian Lane Elementary School in Media. “He had no idea what suction meant. The next time in, I brought a suction cup and showed him. It was pretty cool.”

Sometimes the volunteers help kids in big ways.

“I have worked with one child from first to fourth grade,” said retired attorney Cathy Murphy, a volunteer at Fort Washington and Lower Gwynedd elementary schools. “The child was making significant progress, but I alerted the teachers and guidance counselor about what she was telling me about her home environment. Ultimately, this child was removed from her troublesome home situation and was formally adopted by a biological uncle and aunt.”

Murphy reported that the child “is doing very well, has increased her reading grade level and even did well in the school’s Reading Olympics event this year. She told me recently how much she likes reading Emily Dickenson’s poems, something I would not have imagined her saying a couple of years ago.”

Two-Way Learning

‘I’ve been encouraged by volunteers who talk about how meaningful this experience is and how much good they’re doing,” said Matusow, who joined RSVP a year ago after a retiring as a librarian in the Rose TreeMedia School District.

“The learning goes both ways,” she said. “Sometimes the kids will tell a volunteer what needs to happen in a session. They know the drill.”

“The kids want to trust and confide in you about school, family and friends,” said Fleming. “One student

SUBMITTED PHOTO — RSVP Volunteer Carol Rudè reads with her student.