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William Wynn interviewed Anahi Chavez on February 27, 2017, at Celia Clinton Elementary School concerning her involvement in the 成人快播 volunteer program.
William Wynn: So we鈥檙e here at Celia Clinton Elementary with 成人快播 and, Anahi, can you tell me how long you鈥檝e been doing this?
Anahi Chavez: Well, I started in September of 2016 and this is my first year doing 成人快播. I tutor for like 6 to 8 hours a week and I really love it.
William: Okay. How long have you been working with Lorena?
Anahi: Since about the same time.
William: Okay.
Anahi: I tutor her once a week. It used to be twice a week, or actually just once a week, yeah, but usually on Fridays I鈥檒l do make-up sessions and I help out with kids who were absent.
William: And, Lorena, do you enjoy working with her?
Lorena: (Nods her head.)
William: What鈥檚 the best thing about it?
Lorena: Read.
William: You like reading?
Lorena: (Nods her head.)
William: And have you noticed a lot of progress in this time?
Anahi: Yeah. A lot, with all my students, and Lorena actually just started beginning readers, so we鈥檙e really excited about that. She was in emerging reading. Now she鈥檚 up to beginners.
William: What grade are you in?
Lorena: First.
William: How old are you?
Lorena: Seven.
William: Seven? Wow. And you work with more than one student?
Anahi: Yes, I work with鈥� let me see, I have to count. Five students regularly, and then like I said on Friday鈥�
William: What inspired you to get involved in [this program]?
Anahi: I found out about this through VolunteerMatch.org and I know it really helps out a kid to have someone to look up to with reading. I know it helped me when I was little. You know, I would see the 鈥渂ig kids,鈥� you know, come in from high school or college and just help us out, to learn how to read and that made me think, it鈥檚 my time to give back.
William: What kind of books do you like to read?
Lorena: Um, princess.
William: Princess books?
Lorena: (Nods her head.)
William: Yeah?
Lorena: And [dragons?]
Anahi: Dogs?
Lorena: [Bears?]
William: Do you have kids with different, obviously with different, where they鈥檙e starting at, in their abilities?
Anahi: Yeah. They鈥檙e beginning with ERs, they鈥檙e emerging readers, or beginning readers. I actually have a student right now that鈥檚 in comprehensive reading, and it鈥檚 just awesome to see where they start and where they have their progress. It鈥檚 honestly really cool to see all of that.
William: Are some of your kids, I鈥檓 guessing here, maybe not native English speakers?
Anahi: Yeah, the majority I tutor are Hispanic and it really helps them that you鈥檙e bilingual because they feel comfortable. Some of my students, I told them, 鈥淪o how many languages do you guys speak?鈥� And they go, 鈥淚 speak two.鈥� And I鈥檓 like, 鈥淲hich ones?鈥� And they say, 鈥淓nglish and Spanish.鈥� And I鈥檓 like, 鈥淢e, too!鈥� And then, right away, it鈥檚 that 鈥渃lick.鈥� So, it really does help to be bilingual.
William: And do you focus on, you鈥檒l be reading one book at a time, and move to another?
Anahi: Yeah, we read one book per session and, like, for her to read aloud, and if we don鈥檛 finish that book, we鈥檒l finish it the next session. But each session has a book that鈥檚 part of the lesson, that actually goes with the lesson plan. Like, today we learned the sound for 鈥渃鈥� and so that book will mainly have words with 鈥渃鈥� or words with 鈥渋ng,鈥� depending on what the lesson is.
William: Okay. Do the students ever bring books to you that they want to read that may not be part of the plan itself?
Anahi: They haven鈥檛 yet. I haven鈥檛 even thought of that. That鈥檚 a good idea. They do enjoy the book reports that they bring to their house. One of my students told me that she has a library going on because of all the books she can take home and they don鈥檛 have to bring it back, they just keep it. So, it鈥檚 part of their own little personal library.
William: And what book are you reading right now?
Lorena: [?]
Anahi: I think it was like, 鈥淔roggy鈥檚 first time swimming.鈥� Something like that.
William: Okay.
Anahi: There鈥檙e so many books we鈥檝e read. Yeah we read Stellaluna a couple of weeks ago, and she loved it.
William: So, what would you say to other people who might be considering volunteering?
Anahi: First of all, 鈥淒o, it.鈥�
William: Yeah?
Anahi: It really does help students out. Just one hour a week really does help. I know that students that don鈥檛 read at proficiency level by third grade have a four times higher chance of dropping out, so that alone should make people really want to make sure that the kids in the community are succeeding. So, I love it.
William: Yeah.
Anahi: This actually made me change my major to speech pathology because I kind of learned about it. It was going towards teaching and then I learned about speech pathology, so you learn a lot about kids and how they work, how they are. It鈥檚 really rewarding just to see how they progress.
William: Are there moments when you see that something is really clicking that may not have been before?
Anahi: Oh, yeah. I feel like every lesson, there鈥檚 one little moment, especially when you walk to get the student from their classroom: 鈥淗ey, how鈥檚 your day going?鈥� 鈥淚t鈥檚 going good.鈥� They tell you about their family, their lunch, their time at recess. So, it鈥檚 not just, 鈥淗ey, let鈥檚 sit down and do a lesson, let鈥檚 get this over with.鈥� You actually have a communication with the student and a bond. Like my student Lorena, when I go to pick her up now, she鈥檒l want to hold my hand. She鈥檚 so cute. But, there is a special bond, I feel like, for sure. And I talk to them about college, and then they want to learn more about it. College classes sound like it鈥檚 something big.
William: Well, thank you very much.
Anahi: Yeah, you鈥檙e welcome.
Elizabeth Brands Vereecke (Executive Director of 成人快播 in Tulsa): Most of our volunteers, we ask our volunteers to volunteer for one hour per week, so it鈥檚 a pretty exceptional volunteer when they鈥檙e here for more than one hour, or even up to five, that鈥檚 pretty extraordinary. So, this is a really special situation. So, thank you so much.
