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New Emerson Y Learning Lab Offers A Chance To Improve Reading Skills
(Special to the Independent News)
The new Learning Lab at the Emerson Family YMCA on Pershall Road offers an even greater opportunity to serve children in the community. Since 1999 the YMCA YRead Program has provided one-on-one tutoring to over 900 school age children in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area who are below grade level in reading.
Jeremiah Little, son of Johnny Little, Emerson Board chairman, testing out his YRead learning lab at the opening for the new program last week at the Emerson YMCA.
Last week, the Learning Lab was introduced at the Emerson YMCA. The YRead program is a free tutoring program that matches trained volunteer tutors with children who are at least one grade level behind in reading skills. Both students and volunteers make a one-year commitment to meet for one hour twice a week, and in that year’s time, the student’s often increase their reading skills by two levels.
With the time demands placed on modern families, it is becoming harder and harder to find tutors who are able to give two hours a week of their time. “Potential tutors are often eager to volunteer once a week, but twice a week is more than their schedules can manage, ” says Kathy Adkisson, director of the YRead Program. The opening of the learning lab at the Emerson Family YMCA, will be meeting the needs of both the students and tutors.
The space at the Emerson YMCA will allow students to meet with a tutor one day a week, and work on computer software the second day. The software focuses on building word recognition, phonics skills, and reading comprehension.
“The software is a useful tool. It is an interactive program that really gets the students engaged,” says Adkisson. So why not have the students work on the computer two days a week? “The magic of the YRead Program is the relationship that is formed between the learner and the tutor. Graduates of the program say that they feel that their tutor is a friend they can depend on.”
Currently the YRead program has a waiting list of 72 children waiting to be matched with a tutor, down from 85 in 2007. Many of the students who are on the waiting list live in North County. With the opening of the Learning Lab at the Emerson YMCA, YRead hopes a facility in the neighborhood will encourage more tutors to volunteer.
“Most of our tutors are not educators, they are simply people who have a love for
reading, and a desire share that with a child.” YRead trains all their volunteers in tutoring for reading skills, and gives on-going support to all tutors if they encounter roadblocks. “I meet every tutor, and encourage them to call me with any questions they have,” Adkisson says.
Future YRead Learning Labs are scheduled to open at the Monsanto Family YMCA in March, and in the South City area in the fall. The next tutor training is scheduled for March 8th. For more information about the YRead program, call Kathy Adkisson at 314-353-4960, ext 33, or email kadkisson@ymcastlouis.org.
The YRead program focuses on academically at-risk children, ages 7 to 14, who have been referred by their teachers or parents. Learners are assessed to determine their reading level, and then matched with a tutor. The parents and tutors are asked to commit to two sessions per week for up to one year, to work on phonics, sight words, and reading comprehension. As the learner’s academics begin to improve, so does their self-esteem. Learners often say that the bonding between tutor and learner improves the learner’s self-confidence and motivates them to do their best.
