|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Gifts to the Almanac Holiday Fund benefit Project Read-Menlo Park. Click here to donate.
By Mike Goodkind, Project Read volunteer.
Project Read-Menlo Park literacy tutors are finding that the personal stories locked inside their students can be sprung loose to become fascinating, valuable tools in the quest for literacy.
For the 30th anniversary of the Menlo Park literacy program next year, Program Director Roberta Roth expects Project Read to produce a book of student stories that will inspire, educate, and keep alive the sagas that had hitherto been untold to the community.
Project Read students speak more than a dozen native tongues from all over the world but share a common goal of wishing to read and write English.
Margarita Joachin, with help from tutor Susan Speicher, recently presented a short self-published book chronicling her journey from El Salvador. The book was a gift for her daughter.
Carmen from Latin America recently wrote how she and her husband worked two full-time jobs each for 13 years to buy a house.
Tutors, ranging from college students to seniors, are often surprised to hear the stories of hardship followed by triumph told by their students during tutoring sessions designed to prepare learners for jobs, school or simply logging on to their children’s school website.
“Stories are a powerful motivator and catalyst for students, who often have ached to share their journeys and triumphs, and for the tutors who share in these revelations from fascinating, courageous people they otherwise might never have known,” says Ms. Roth.
Bernard Clouse agrees, having shared stories and experiences with student Lama Jamp, a Tibetan Monk, who spoke almost no English when he came to the United States to teach at a Buddhist Monastery. The pair continues to meet after Clouse helped Jamp study to become a U.S. citizen.
Project Read is always looking for new tutors. While about 90 students are matched with one-on-one tutors, Ms. Roth says there is a need for about 20 more to trim a student waiting list.
Other programs offered by Project Read are beginning and intermediate English classes held at Menlo Park’s Belle Haven Library, and a computer lab available as a resource for all participants. Recent special events included a writing workshop for 18 learners and tutors led by East Palo Alto Poet Laureate Kalamu Chache.
For information about volunteering, finding a tutor or donating, contact Ms. Roth at rlroth@menlopark.org or (650) 330-2525; or visit projectreadmenlopark.org.
Most Popular
Congressman calls for feds to investigate, sanction Russian owner of Menlo Park development siteSeptember 24, 2026 11:32 am
Councilmember urges citywide traffic review as developer adds housing to SRI project in Menlo ParkSeptember 24, 2026 4:16 pm