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TI's Reading Tutors Reap Personal Rewards.........posted Jul 4, 2008

Ask any of the eight Tikvat Israel members who tutored a 2nd grader in Montgomery County's Ruth Rales Reading Program during the past year what they got out of it, and you'll hear a pretty common refrain: The reward is in the doing!

Tutoring once a week at nearby elementary schools in 2007-08 were congregants Mae Bernstein, Carol Chelemer, Ellen Eisner, Sharon Laken, Susan Newman (all at Meadow Hall Elementary School, around the corner from TI); Marsha and Art Fabel (at Sargent Shriver ES); and Jesse Kaiser (at Fairland ES).

The committed volunteers say improvements in student test scores tell only part of the tutoring story. It's often the special relationship that develops between the tutor and student that makes the real difference. As Susan Newman remarked during the group's year-end lunch to share experiences, "I can't tell you how many times my student greeted me with a special poem or card she'd made for me -- it was so touching."

Tutors also agreed with Sharon Laken's comment that the tutoring experience is "a real boost to the student's confidence, and seeing that is reward in itself."

Although one doesn't always see dramatic changes in the child's reading skills over the year, two tutors who've been in the program several years (Laken and Ellen Eisner) mentioned the thrill they had in seeing former students' names on the school honor roll.

"Sometimes the change you contribute to just doesn't show up right away," said Eisner.

Being there regularly for a 2nd grader also can mean much more than helping with reading. Many of these students have hardships at home, and the tutor can become a buffer or cushion. This year Jesse Kaiser's student lost his mother, and Kaiser was there as a personal support as well as a reading support.

Taken together, the rewards of this program are sundry and personal. If you're interested in joining TI's tutoring troop for the 2008-09 school year, please contact Eisner at eeisner@comcast.net or 301-598-0635.

Two-hour training classes are available during the summer and early fall. Tutoring generally begins in October and runs through May. A commitment to tutor your student once a week is required (illness or short travel excepted).