Over Ten Years of Providing Hope to Young Readers

• Children who haven’t mastered reading by the fourth grade have a hard time keeping up. As a result, they often develop academic or behavioral problems; they may eventually choose not to attend school at all.

 

The Schools of Hope Reading Program at the Heart of West Michigan United Way believes all West Michigan kids deserve a good education, but many young students struggle because they lack the basic reading skills to move ahead.

 

The program was created to target struggling readers in grades 1-3 and provides 90 minutes of intensive literacy instruction and reading practice daily. Offered at 19 sites throughout Kent County, the afterschool program takes place in the neighborhood where the child lives and attends school and is sustained by local volunteers.

 

“Having tutored for 10 years, the children’s desire to learn and do well in school constantly amazes me,” shares Literacy Director Fritz Crabb. “What also amazes me is the dedication of the tutors who freely give their time and the companies who allow them the time. They better our community by helping children become better readers. If children can’t read, they will not succeed."

 

 There are impressive results as well. Just last year:

• Over 600 Grand Rapids Public School students received more than 22,000 tutoring sessions and 58% of these students showed increased reading ability beyond normally expected growth.

• Students in the program who were at least one grade level behind in their reading ability gained an average of 1.27 years of growth in just nine months. 

• An amazing 80% of the parents who participated in the family literacy program and 33% of their children showed improvement in their test scores. During the 2010/11 school year, this program was offered at five GRPS schools.

 

Although the statistics are gratifying, the children say it best.

 

“I never used to read books," gushes one Schools of Hope recipient. "I didn’t even like reading, but now I enjoy reading. I feel good about myself because I learned how to read better -- all because of [a mentor].  It is fun reading with a mentor because they help you solve stuff. I feel happy because I went from first grade reading to third. My mom is proud of me.”

 

With a decade of service, Schools of Hope is now sharing their strategies with other communities nationwide to expand the impact on the issue of illiteracy. Congratulations to Heart of West Michigan United Way for building strong leaders and being an outstanding do-gooder in our community.

 

Here’s how you can put the good back in do-gooder by getting involved:
 

• Join the Schools of Hope group on facebook

• “Like” the Heart of West Michigan United Way on facebook

• Learn more about the Schools of Hope program

• Check out the Tutoring schedule

• Become a Schools of Hope tutor

• Don’t have the time to tutor? Here’s other ways in which you can help 
 

Source: Suzy Gerow, Heart of West Michigan United Way; Fritz Crabb, Heart of West Michigan United Way

Writer: Jennifer Wilson, Do Good Editor