College of Charleston is a valuable community partner and provides Reading Partners with more than 100 volunteer tutors each year. Though students come and go, each class of attendees at the college remains committed to helping the community of Charleston during their four years of residency.
Rachel Jaffe, a volunteer tutor, now AmeriCorps site coordinator, is a great example of why Reading Partners’ collaboration with the College of Charleston is so important.
In the spring of her senior year at the College of Charleston Honors College, Rachel first learned about Reading Partners. Rachel was looking for a fulfilling opportunity that would incorporate her love of working with kids and education. As Rachel browsed through College of Charleston’s Civic Engagement volunteer listserv, she found Reading Partners. At the time, Reading Partners was looking for volunteers to tutor elementary school students at Memminger Elementary, just a short walk from Rachel’s sorority house.
“When I walked in for the first day of tutoring, I knew that Reading Partners would change my life.”
Rachel quickly fell in love with the program, as well as the spunky second grader she spent 45 minutes with every Thursday. “Reading Partners was so organized. I didn’t feel like I could fail. The curriculum was there, there was training, and there was someone on site that could answer questions. I never had to wonder what the next step was.” Though it took Rachel a few weeks to make a meaningful connection with her student, Darius, one day, it clicked. “Ever since [that day], we made great strides every second we spent together,” which truly made the experience worthwhile for Rachel and for Darius, who was gaining valuable reading skills and confidence.
For more of this story, visit the Reading Partners website!
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