ABQ READS
A partnership between the Chamber and Albuquerque Public Schools launched in 2003, Albuquerque Reads mobilizes over 160 volunteer tutors each year to help students at three Title 1 minority-majority elementary schools improve their reading skills. Over the course of the school year, around 200 students receive 90 minutes of one-on-one literacy tutoring each week. Children also receive around 20 free books to
build their very own at-home library.
ABQ Reads provides over 7,000 hours of tutoring each year.
The program serves kindergarteners at Bel-Air Elementary and Atrisco Elementary, as well as kindergarteners and first graders at Whittier Elementary. Volunteers include active-duty military from Kirtland Air Force Base, college students, retirees, and working professionals. ABQ Reads provides more than 4,000 books annually to children.
ABQ Reads gets results.
I’m going to call her Faith. She came to Bel-Air Elementary about the middle of the school year. She had not been attending school; and, in fact, she and her mother had been without a home. She had one little dress and some torn sneakers. The school system immediately took her to the clothing bank, and the family got help finding them a temporary home.
She had the most beautiful smile! But, she was way behind in her learning. She didn’t know how to sit still in a chair. She had never held a pencil or used crayons. She had trouble in the classroom joining group activities. When she started attending Albuquerque Reads with one-on-one support, she made connections with her tutors. (Three days of tutoring a week for 30 minutes, with a different tutor each day.) Her tutors quickly learned what she needed to know. They focused on her following along in books and beginning to point to each word. They realized she didn’t know the colors so would get out the box of crayons and help her use and name the colors. They helped her learn to write her name and name the letters. They helped her draw pictures and “tell a story” about them as the tutors wrote down her words. She was quickly able to sit (most of the time) and focus on her learning.
By the end of the school year Little Ms. Faith was reading and writing with help from her tutors. She was not “on grade level” but had certainly made HUGE gains. That beautiful smile was bigger, and those eyes were shining with pride.
— Sally Giannini, Bel-Air Elementary School site coordinator
ABQ Reads needs tutors – join us in giving the gift of literacy!
Did you know that from kindergarten to grade two, children Learn to Read. From grade three on, children Read to Learn. Join Albuquerque Public Schools, the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce and volunteers like you to make a lasting difference in a child’s life.
Fast Facts on ABQ Reads:
- It’s a one-on-one literacy tutoring program at Whittier, Atrisco and Bel-Air elementaries.
- Tutors can volunteer 90 minutes a week or join a team and volunteer just one week a month.
- The three-hour tutor training will be scheduled at school sites Sept. 2-4 & 9-11.
- First day of ABQReads Sept. 16.