February may be known as the month of love, but we love our residents throughout the year because of the many ways they warm our hearts. John Dial, Don Eppert and Gordon Jones are perfect examples.
John, Don, and Gordon are volunteers with “Reading Warriors” at Kimberly Park Elementary School in Winston-Salem, a literacy initiative that offers tutoring and mentorship to kindergarteners, first graders and second graders who struggle with reading.
At the beginning of the current school year, the volunteers are each assigned a first grader who is performing at or below marginal levels. Since the fall, John, Don and Gordon have met twice a week with their students, building relationships and helping increase their reading proficiency.
“It may surprise many that in Forsyth County, less than 50% of third grade students read at the expected level,” says Don. “The “Reading Warriors” curriculum relies on phonetics, one of the most effective ways to teach reading skills to younger students in a progressive way.”
Each week, the tutors prepare for their two weekly 30-minute lessons using flash cards, story books and other prompts outlined in the program manual. They are required to write a report following each session to provide feedback and measure progress. All the students have to do is show up—by design, they are not given any assignments to work on at home.
It didn’t take John, Don and Gordon long to realize that, as the teachers, they are the ones who do all the homework! But it is worth it.
“I’ve tutored in reading before,” says Gordon.” It’s a good way to help students build their reading skills and make them feel good about themselves.”
Don adds, “There is nothing more soul-filling than helping a young person read and watching them grow and develop confidence. I look to working with my student every week.”
John speaks for all of them. “I wanted to do something for our community, and this is something I can do. I’ve gotten more from the program than the students, because of how rewarding it’s been to see the students learn, improve skills and develop relationships with their tutors.