Collaborative Community Service: Helping kids learn to read in Colorado

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” 

– Henry Ford    

Everyday in Colorado community volunteers turn out to local elementary schools to help kids learn to read. While hundreds of volunteers generously donate their time and commitment to their students, Reading Partners is always looking for volunteers to tutor students during make-up sessions and for other special events.

For these events we call upon our partners in the community to help us make a huge impact in just one day. Other local organizations like Mile High Youth Corps and Junior League of Denver, work together with Reading Partners to provide learning opportunities for students and tutors alike. It’s a win-win!

The Mile High Youth Corps program gives 16-24 year olds an opportunity to get hands-on experience giving back to their communities. Reading Partners Colorado was honored to have them support our students during a special event which brought 12 corps members to Centennial Elementary. At Centennial, corps members spent the morning doing makeup tutoring sessions with students who had missed sessions earlier in the school year.

Reading Partners site coordinators and staff were impressed by corps members’ ability to learn the Reading Partners curriculum so quickly, and their enthusiasm to help kids who are struggling with reading.

“It was so exciting to see our Centennial students connecting with the Mile High Youth Corps – I’m not sure which group had more fun!,” said Ashley Teipel, program associate at Reading Partners.

In a single day, the volunteers from Mile High Youth Corps were able to lead makeup sessions for every student at Centennial enrolled in the Reading Partners program!

Reading Partners AmeriCorps VISTA members serving in Colorado particularly enjoyed the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals, dedicated to serving their communities through AmeriCorps capacity building programs.

Along with our dozen Mile High Youth Corps members who volunteered, several volunteers from Junior League of Denver joined Reading Partners at Pioneer Charter School. Junior League of Denver is a women’s group with a special focus on improving literacy rates in Denver. Reading Partners and the Junior League of Denver have become great allies in Colorado and have worked together on various projects over the past four years.

Reading Partners, Mile High Youth Corps, and Junior League of Denver are all service organizations with varying missions, but similar motivations–to serve communities and help make things better. Partnerships like this set a precedence for community service and inspire communities to become involved and, not to mention, help students succeed in reading!

The staff at Reading Partners Colorado are exceedingly grateful for these organizations and the many other community groups that partner for community and student success in Colorado.