Direct Service at Reading Partners New York

One of my favorite parts of my role at Reading Partners is the direct service component, where I get to tutor elementary school students one-on-one in literacy. Each session with a student includes a tutor read aloud where the student picks a book for me to read to them, a skill instruction portion with the focus on a particular phonics or comprehension skill, and a student read aloud book that the student reads to me with my support. 

This year, Reading Partners will provide tutoring in 20 public schools across New York City, and we hope to reach 1200 students. While we aim to see our program as a large-scale intervention that will help hundreds of students, the beauty of our program is in its one-on-one, small-scale nature, where tutors and students can grow together and build incredible mentorships. That is what makes our students love signing on to Reading Partners and what makes our tutors sign up year after year!

As E and I grew closer, his confidence grew–he always had his camera on, he wasn't afraid to make mistakes and ask questions, and he would even volunteer to alternate pages with me when it was time for the Tutor Read Aloud book.

In the last year, I’ve gotten to mentor and tutor three students in the Bronx weekly: A, a second-grader who always wanted to save time at the end to show me her art projects; S, a second-grader who I didn’t get to meet with many times but was always curious about my ballet background; and E, a fifth-grader and avid baseball player who was “excited but a little nervous” for middle school. 

My relationship with E was particularly special, as we got very comfortable with each other and both were really sad that he wouldn’t be in Reading Partners when he moved to middle school. At the beginning of our Wednesday session, we would always debrief our weekends, and at the end of our weekly Friday session we would share what we were looking forward to that weekend. I made sure to remember what he shared with me and ask about his baseball tryouts and games. 

As E and I grew closer, his confidence grew–he always had his camera on, he wasn’t afraid to make mistakes and ask questions, and he would even volunteer to alternate pages with me when it was time for the Tutor Read Aloud book. The year ended with a special moment when E read a poem with confidence and expression for our recorded end-of-year celebration that was shared with all of our stakeholders.

As we delve into another year of tutoring, I’m looking forward to building relationships with more students in the Bronx, and maybe even reconnecting with some of my past students! There’s nothing more inspiring than witnessing growth in a young student and getting to play a positive and encouraging role in their academic journey!

If you’re curious about tutoring with Reading Partners (we are in 13 regions across the United States!), visit our website. You can make a difference in the life of a child with just one hour a week!

 

Clara Monk

Clara Monk

Clara Monk (she/her) is a Fellow on the Community Engagement Team at Reading Partners in New York City.

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Photo by Jerry Wang on Unsplash