Think about volunteering for the Taylor Reading Corps!

With the school year winding down and the summer months about to kick in, it might be a good time to think about volunteering in the fall for the award-winning Taylor Reading Corps.

The TRC, one of the Taylor School District's "Points of Pride," is an independent, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that recruits, trains and supervises adult reading mentors for pupils in preschool and lower elementary school grade levels in the system.

The group, the brainchild of 23rd District Court Judge Geno Salomone, was created in 2011. During the 2011-12 school year, it focused on approximately 100 adult volunteer reading mentors working with nearly 200 kindergarten pupils. According to independent data analysis by TRC's partner, Wayne State University, those mentored in the program showed significant progress toward gaining proficient standards in reading.

But the work wasn't done, and it never will be.

Reading proficiency is a problem across the nation. According to a Pew Foundation study in 2010, the national illiteracy rate lingers at 18 percent, while the Detroit metro area rate is as high as 47 percent. Getting any pupil to reading proficiency by the end of the third grade is the key, because those falling behind at that time suffer in the long run; 24 percent drop out or don't finish school on time.

In addition, this problem eventually becomes a quality of life issue in any community. Over 75 percent of the inmates in America's prisons cannot read above the fourth-grade level. 

This year, thanks to a great partnership with the PNC Foundation and PNC Bank branches across the region, grant money and PNC employees were focused on  working with non-proficient readers in preschool as part of PNC Foundation's "Grow Up Great" program. The participation of PNC alone allowed the TRC to expand to the Taylor preschool program.

Meanwhile, as part of its original plan, the reading corps expanded its services this year (2012-13) to the first-grade level. The mentors who worked last year in kindergarten moved on to the first grade with their respective pupils, while new volunteers were recruited to take on the children entering this year's kindergartens. PNC personnel continue to focus on preschoolers only.

With the expansion, nearly 200 adults worked with approximately 300 students this year. Again, Taylor School District personnel and TRC staff will gather reading data for children participating in the program this year, and forward to WSU for analysis. The TRC should receive the analysis of that data sometime this summer.

The independent analysis of the educational progress of the program is very important. Not only does it help the TRC organization target areas that need improvement, but it solidifies the image and reputation of the group. 

Earlier this year, the Taylor Reading Corps was honored by the Michigan Reading Association with its statewide "reading agency" award during the MRA's annual convention in Grand Rapids. The TRC has quickly grown its reputation as one of Taylor's biggest success stories in a very short period of time.

But, as stated previously, the job is never done, and in the fall, the TRC will expand to the second-grade level. With that growing focus for the 2013-14 school year (preschool, kindergarten, first and second grades), the group will need the most adult volunteers  it has ever needed.

Which means the TRC needs your help.

Volunteering is easy. Adults are required to visit their pupil once a week for a half-hour reading session. That visit takes place at the pupil's school. The TRC provides training, materials and counseling. It's just that easy to become involved.

In addition, the TRC welcomes non-mentoring volunteers, monetary donations and in-kind support.

To learn more about the TRC, click here.

To go straight to the online volunteer registration, click here.

For more information about the MRA's statewide award bestowed upon the TRC, click here.