Reading teaches seniors, students valuable lessons.htm

Retirees keep busy by joining groups that tutor children

Karen Meaney

The Journal News

NEW ROCHELLE - Ruth Katz and Shaylah Brickle discovered something new they have in common when they got together to read last week at Trinity School.

"We share a birthday month!" Katz, 67, told 5-year-old Shaylah, after realizing both would celebrate birthdays this month.

Katz is one of a growing number of retirees who go into schools to work with children. While focusing on improving the students' reading skills, the retirees also provide children one-on-one time with caring adults.

Going back to school seems to be a natural inclination for retired teachers and for retirees in general. When 35 million members of the AARP were recently surveyed, working with children in their communities was one of their major interests. Former educators work with a half-million children in 1,000 communities in the Through Our Youth program sponsored by the National Retired Teachers Association at AARP.

"NRTA provides materials and resources, then the local organizations get creative at the grass-roots level," said Annette Norsman, the AARP's director of NRTA.

Read*Write*Now!, a tutorial program of Hadassah, the national organization for Jewish women, is a growing resource for local schools. This year, they have about 100 volunteers, mainly seniors, in 30 Westchester schools.

When groups are looking for ideas for their volunteers, they often turn to the Yonkers Students and Mature Adults Read Together program, or SMART. The organization began seven years ago with 20 adults working with Gorton High School students. This year, 160 adults are going to two high schools, two middle schools, and 22 elementary schools in the city.

"The need is tremendous," said Janice Lubin-Kirschner, assistant executive director of SMART. "A lot of students don't have the opportunity to be read with one-on-one."

Lubin-Kirschner said elementary school volunteers arrive with books or word games. Middle school volunteers use material selected by a reading specialist and the high school material reflects whatever the students are currently working on in school.

"The program is not test-directed, but skill oriented," Lubin-Kirschner said. "It's been so gratifying to see it grow."

The success of the SMART program was an inspiration for Eastchester resident Toni Carter, director of intergenerational programs at Family and Community Services of Eastchester, who received a grant this year to start Bronxville Eastchester Tuckahoe Teaches Enrichment and Recreation, or BETTER.

This month, the first group of 18 BETTER volunteers, ranging from an 80-year-old retired teacher working on pre-reading skills to a former engineer who will teach woodworking, began work with children at the Eastchester Child Development Center. Carter is looking for more volunteers who want to work in after-school programs in the Bronxville, Eastchester and Tuckahoe area.

"I'm excited at the caliber of the volunteers," Carter said. "These are people who love to be busy, they're very active and they want to give back."

BETTER volunteers are interviewed, provide references and fingerprints, and receive from two to four hours of training with Westchester Community College instructors before working with children.

After discussing their upcoming birthday plans, Shaylah and Katz developed a story about Shaylah's Thanksgiving plans, one that they alternately wrote and read together.

Katz returns to Trinity School, where she once taught, through the Reading Discovery Program. Under the auspices of the Retired Educators Consulting Service, the program is sending 25 volunteers into New Rochelle's Jefferson, Ward and Trinity schools this year.

Larchmont resident Suzanne Adel founded Reading Discovery in 1996, a year after she retired from a 23-year teaching career in New Rochelle.

"When I was teaching, I felt students who came from homes with language support had a tremendous advantage," she said. "I wanted to help close that gap."

Katz ends her second weekly session at Trinity by sharing Edward Lear's poem, "The Owl and the Pussycat," with 6-year-old Courtney Millin.

"I bring in poetry, I try to share literature with them," Katz said. "Reading for enjoyment is the best way to learn how to read."

Reach Karen Meaney at kmeaney@thejournalnews.com or 914-637-2226.

To volunteer

Contact the following organizations to be trained to volunteer in schools:

Reading Discovery, 914-576-4593

Read*Write*Now!, 914-693-4626

BETTER, 914-961-4773

SMART, 914-423-5009