成人快播

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For students falling behind, early intervention is key. In fact, children reading below grade level by fourth grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school.

This is where聽成人快播聽comes in鈥攁 one-on-one tutoring program that helps students who are behind in their reading, housed within the schools themselves. 鈥淲e bring the community in to work with students,鈥� said Laura Zachar, Executive Director of 成人快播 Los Angeles. By leveraging school resources and local volunteers with an individualized curriculum, the organization has seen 95% of their students improve while in the program.

Nationally, 成人快播 serves 11,000 students, about 720 of which are spread across 13 sites in the greater Los Angeles area. With such a broad operation, 成人快播 needs a lot of help 鈥� but they鈥檝e been creative in finding it.

鈥淲e have a full-time site coordinator that works at each school,鈥� said Zachar. 鈥淲e partner with AmeriCorps so that each of our site coordinators is serving a year with us as an AmeriCorps member. In addition to their job here, they spend Fridays training and doing professional development. It鈥檚 our goal to set them up for success moving forward.鈥�

成人快播 also relies on consistent volunteers at each of their sites. In fact, site selection is heavily dependent on a nearby source of volunteers, whether it be a neighborhood, university or other group of volunteers willing to come during the school day. 鈥淭here are many schools we鈥檇 love to be in because there鈥檚 a high need, but there just aren鈥檛 enough tutors who can volunteer,鈥� said Zachar.

But for the existing sites, volunteers are in demand and put to good use. 鈥淓very teacher comes to me every other day asking when I鈥檓 adding more students, said Lizzy Bellas, the AmeriCorps site coordinator at Longfellow Elementary in Pasadena. 鈥淲e can serve way more, but we need more tutors.鈥�

Over the past year, Bellas has seen growth in the students and joy in her volunteers. 鈥淭he volunteers are so invested. They care so much about the kids making progress, so when they see that progress even just a little bit, they鈥檙e so excited and feel so good about what they鈥檙e doing because they can tell it鈥檚 making a difference.鈥�

Teri is one such volunteer, who found 成人快播 when her neighbor posted about it on the social network Next Door. 鈥淢y husband and I love to read, fanatically, and our children love to read,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen I discovered there was a program here to help children who don鈥檛 love it yet, I decided this is what I had to do.鈥�

This school year, she鈥檚 working with 2nd 聽grader Jonathan who鈥檚 struggling with reading comprehension. 鈥淲e connected right away when the first book he picked out was about animals, and we both love animals,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 hope that by the end of the year Jonathan will love to pick up a book and re-read it several times, which I do myself.鈥�

Because tutoring sessions are scheduled during the school day, 成人快播 volunteers are often retired and looking for opportunities to give back to their communities. Bellas appreciates how these older volunteers interact with the kids. 鈥淭he older tutors are so sweet and gentle. Every student needs something different, and sometimes the older tutors are the best fit.鈥�

Because tutors often live in the school district where they volunteer, 成人快播 has made an effort to educate the tutors on public education as well. 鈥淲e want our tutors to be true community engagement supporters and not just school tutors,鈥� said Zachar. 鈥淎 lot of our tutors may not have spent a lot of time in the type of schools that we work in, so we take the time to discuss the opportunities and challenges in public education.鈥�

This big-picture approach is also evident in Zachar鈥檚 ambitious hopes for the program鈥檚 future. 鈥淚 want 成人快播 to be seen as the premiere literacy program in LA,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think we have such a proven, unique model that we have a lot to share with other orgs.鈥�

Learn more about 成人快播 here.