Dec. 11, 2003

Vigo County kids learn to read through
ISU's Indiana Reading Corps

But Vigo County elementary school students who may have trouble reading are getting a helping hand from Indiana State University students.

As part of the Indiana Reading Corps. Program, ISU student volunteers spend half an hour twice a week as "reading coaches" for children in kindergarten through fifth grade. The tutoring sessions take place at the Vigo County Public Library’s Center for Lifelong Learning.

Krystina Lewis, a freshman special education/elementary education major from Frankfort, Ill., is among the more than 65 ISU students who volunteer as reading coaches.

It’s satisfying, she said, "Knowing they’re happy because they just got done reading a book, it makes you feel like you’ve made a difference in their life."

ISU junior Ashley Thaler said she found time between her studies as a nursing major to donate. "I decided to give my time for something good," she said.

Indiana Reading Corps. coordinator Elizabeth Yates said the after-school program helps not only the elementary school students, it offers support to overworked schoolteachers.

Before the program was implemented, Yates said, "There were teachers that would stay after school with some of the children and spend extra time with them and put in their own time. So when they found out there was an extra program that could open up to their children, it was wonderful."

But the biggest beneficiaries are the students, who get one-on-one attention from tutors. Last year’s final assessments show that more than two-thirds of the children enrolled in the Indiana Reading Corps. program improved their literacy skills by one to two reading levels.

"In the classroom, they can kind of get lost or fall behind because either the teacher can’t get to everyone at every time or they don’t want to speak up and say they need help," Yates said.

And as students are assigned to individual tutors, a bond is formed over the course of the school year, she added.

One child Thaler works with as a reading tutor got a D-minus on his first report card. After working with Indiana Reading Corps., the grade improved to a D. "We’re going for a C-minus next time," Thaler said.

Yates said that kind of bonding helps the child.

"When they get that one-on-one and it’s not a parent, it’s not a teacher, it’s more of a college buddy, they kind of let their inhibitions down and they let them know they need help. They respond better to a one-on-one college student," she said.

Over the last two years, the program has given away more than 200 books, many of them donated.

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Contact and Writer:
Mark Gibson, ISU Public Affairs, (812) 237-3790 or devgibso@isugw.indstate.edu

ISU Public Affairs:
(812) 237-3773 or http://isunews.indstate.edu