Americans have spoken and the consensus is out: improving education is a community responsibility. Today, fewer Americans are likely to earn a diploma than their parents, a distinction not shared by any other industrialized country. When schools improve, communities improve. That is a primary finding in a report by United Way Worldwide, the nation's largest, privately-funded nonprofit. Voices for the Common Good: America Speaks Out on Education was presented last Thursday at a National Education Town Hall in Washington, DC. Moderated by CNN's Soledad O'Brien, the event - both live and online - addressed the challenges we face in preparing our children for success.
In response to the report findings, local United Way's across the country announced a commitment to recruit one million volunteer readers, tutors and mentors for education.
Sometimes kids just need someone who believes in them. Join United Way and come together with friends, family, and neighbors to show the power of Living United. Volunteer reading, tutoring or mentoring one hour each week can change the life of a young person.
If one million of us do it, it will change America!
Here are the areas that you can get involved in Marion County:
· Readers: Volunteer readers read stories to individual children, or to a group of children. To be a reader, all a person needs is to be able to read, to be able to commit to visiting a classroom on a regular basis, and to share the joy of reading stories out loud to children.
· Reading Buddies: Reading buddies develop a relationship with students in the online space. Reading buddy programs connect students to adult pen pals, who read the same books that their buddies read, and then corresponds with them in the online space about the issues and major features in the books.
· Reading and Math Tutors: Volunteer tutors go into classrooms to build students' skills in the areas of reading and math. Unlike volunteer readers, tutors are almost always matched with students on a one-on-one basis, and there is often a specific curriculum that the tutor is asked to follow.
· Mentors: Mentors connect with students beyond building classroom skills. Mentors can provide advice on careers, college applications, job searches and more. At its most basic level, mentoring is invaluable because it demonstrates to students that are adults who care about them and want to see them succeed.
· Graduation coaches: Graduation coaches work in schools to identify at -risk students, and support them academically before they reach the point of dropping out. Coaches identify, recruit and engage parents and concerned adults to help as they are needed.
To sign up to volunteer, contact Chris Cotter at 732-9696 ext. 209 or at ccotter@uwmc.org.
