Albuquerque Reads Program Gives Kids a Boost
business, community, education, kindergarten, pat dee, volunteer,
If you see bank president Pat Dee leaving the office in the middle of a workday, don’t assume he is breaking for a power lunch or a quick round of golf.
Instead, Dee is likely on his way to a kindergarten classroom, where he works as a volunteer for Albuquerque Reads.
“Some kids come to school not even knowing the letters in their own name,” says Dee, who has been a reading tutor for the past five years. “From a personal standpoint, it has been extremely rewarding seeing the progress these kids can make toward learning how to read.”
More than 600 volunteers – including many members of the local business community – participate in the innovative reading program that was started by the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce in 2003.
“The chamber obviously has an interest in education, and we’ve been involved in some kind of educational reform activity for a number of years,” says Michael Gaylor, who serves as the chamber’s vice president for leadership and Albuquerque Reads.
“Albuquerque Reads isn’t just a literacy program, it’s the gateway to the future for these children,” says Don Chalmers, Chamber Chairman of the Board and president of Don Chalmers Ford. “Many of us take for granted our ability to read and the opportunities that the ability affords us. What we need to realize is that for a good number of these kids, this is their chance at a future on an equal playing field with their peers.”
Modeled loosely on a program in Columbus, Ohio, Albuquerque Reads addresses the needs of 220 students at Atrisco, Wherry and Bel-Air elementary schools. The goal of the program is
to level the playing field between children who come to kindergarten with basic pre-reading skills and those who do not.
“Few are reading at that point, but some students know the sounds the letters make,” says Dee, president and COO of First Community Bank. “In most cases, we are starting from scratch. Usually, by the end of the year, they are able to read some basic, simple books at least.”
Each child enrolled in Albuquerque Reads is tutored three times a week.
“We read to the child, then have the child read to us – back and forth,” Gaylor says. “The idea is ultimately for the child to be reading to us.”
Teachers pick out books for the reading sessions based on each student’s ability level. A portion of the volunteer’s visit is spent working on writing and phonetic skills.
The tutoring sessions are structured specifically to “support the work of the teachers,” Gaylor adds.
“It is an integrated program; it’s not like we’re just going in and reading to the kids. It mirrors what is happening in the classroom. As a result, the outcomes are very favorable.”
Gaylor cites statistics to back that up:
In 2002-03, only 5 percent of students entered kindergarten with basic pre-reading skills, and 38 percent ended the year reading at or above grade level – “which really means being prepared to go into first grade,” Gaylor says.
In 2003-04, the year that Albuquerque Reads was launched, another 5 percent entered kindergarten equipped with pre-reading skills, yet 80 percent were ready for first grade by the following spring.
“Those statistics have held and are the same at all three schools,” Gaylor says.
Story by Renee Elder
