Project Literacy works to raise L.A. reading levels

The first-grader Jeff Kim tutors came to a Project Literacy tutoring session a few months ago not knowing how to read a word. But with Kim’s help, the boy has been slowly learning his sounds and can now read simple words.

In the 17 years Project Literacy has been at UCLA, its aim has been to eliminate illiteracy in the L.A. community through one-on-one tutoring.

Kim, a project volunteer, said the first day he was with the young boy, Kim told him to silently read a Scooby-Doo comic book. Minutes later, the child came up to Kim and told him that he did not know how to read.

“I just assumed he read at a decent level,” Kim said. “He was embarrassed about it and I told him it was nothing to be embarrassed about.”

The group tutors children Monday through Thursday and on Saturday; on Wednesdays they also tutor ESL adults. They go to various sites in underprivileged communities where they help students and adults in libraries or community centers.

The room in the community center where Kim tutors every Tuesday is fairly small and fits about 25 people. Three long tables line the sides of the walls where the tutors and students sit and work side-by-side.

“Our objective is … by the end of one year to raise the reading level of our learners by one (grade) level,” said Han-Hsien Hsieh, internal director of Project Literacy.

Each tutor is paired with the same student for the entire school year.

“It’s a great thing that we are committed to them for a full year because students at a young age need stability; to have someone be a mentor for a period of time actually helps them a lot,” Frances Sun, a volunteer at Project Literacy, said.

At the beginning of the program, students are asked to write down certain goals they want to accomplish with their tutors.

Hsieh, who has tutored adults, said most of the adults want to improve their English so they can communicate better at work and in their daily lives. Some have more specific goals, including passing a citizenship test or a literacy test for a job.

For children, the tutoring serves as an outlet to both improve their reading and get help with their homework.

“Our goal is to eliminate illiteracy and we feel like by attacking this at a youth level, we can affect a change for the future,” said Brian Murray, director of finance for the project.

For the students, such as the boy Kim is helping, this program is a way for them to get one-on-one attention to learn how to read. Kim said the student he tutors needs this because the boy has a hard time focusing and needs constant attention to get work done.

“I bring him candy for motivation,” Kim said. “I tell him if he reads two pages, he will get a candy.”

Murray said one of his most memorable moments with the project was when he was paired up with an enthusiastic fourth-grade boy. The young boy was excited his family was moving back to Mexico. The plans fell through but instead of being upset, the boy was happy that he could continue tutoring.

“It was very cool to see how we are role models to a lot of kids, to see that something we’re doing is good for them and gets them excited. … Even though he was staying, he was still excited that he could learn through this project,” Murray said.

Volunteers normally start the two-hour tutoring session with silent reading, word games and homework help. A typical activity includes reading a book, then identifying difficult vocabulary words, which the tutor helps explain.

They end the session with a group activity so the children get to know each other and the other tutors, Hsieh said.

Sun said she has built a close relationship with the fifth-grader she tutors. Some of the 10-year-old Chicana student’s classmates had been beaten up and others had been killed in racially charged conflicts in their neighborhood, and this had left the young girl angry and bitter.

“We talked about differences people have and how we should try not to let certain circumstances shape the way we view certain people,” Sun said.

Kim said that because they are consistently working on the child’s reading, he is seeing slight improvement. He said he finds the child is feeling more comfortable with the idea of tutoring.

“He’s just really insecure with the fact that he can’t read, compared to his peers,” Kim said.

Hsieh said that when she worked with adults she was able to see the determination in them to learn as much English as they could.

For a couple of months, she tutored an older high school teacher from Mexico so he could teach English to his students back home.

“I really admired him for his courage,” Hsieh said. “He came to the U.S. on his own and decided he really wanted to improve his English in the short amount of time.”

She said in just a few weeks she saw him improve significantly ““ something she was not sure was possible. His drive was inspiring, Hsieh said.

“It showed me that with enough determination you can do whatever you sought out to do,” Hsieh said.

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