Baltimore literacy nonprofit resumes in-person tutoring for elementary students, seeks 600 volunteers

By Lillian Reed 

Baltimore Sun • Sep 21, 2022

Reading Partners Baltimore is looking for 600 community volunteers for its individualized tutoring program, which is set to resume in person this fall for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The national nonprofit organization, which plans to launch the program at 14 Baltimore city schools in coming weeks, provides students in under-resourced schools with one-on-one reading support to help them reach grade level by fourth grade, according to a news release Wednesday. Reading Partners had pivoted to an online tutoring program during the pandemic, but incoming executive director Zenobia Judd-Williams said officials were thrilled to resume in-person tutoring.

“We know that one-on-one tutoring makes all the difference as students progress on their journey to grade- level reading,” Judd-Williams said in the release. “Our longtime tutors are eager to return to school buildings, and we cannot wait to connect both new and returning tutors with a student at a reading center this fall.” Volunteers must be 14-years or older and be able to pass a background check. Officials are asking volunteers to sign up on the Reading Partners website and commit to one hour of tutoring per week.

Judd-Williams comes to Reading Partners from The SEED School, a statewide college-preparatory public boarding school. “I believe that everyone has a part to play in supporting students, especially as we grapple with educational inequities that were only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Zenobia Judd-Williams, Executive Director of Reading Partners Baltimore.