Taylor Reading Corps continues to seek volunteers

The Taylor Reading Corps, which recruits, trains and supervises adult reading mentors to work with preschool and lower-elementary pupils in the Taylor School District, is still in need of new volunteers for this school year, as well as next year.

Currently, the TRC has approximately 200 adult volunteers working with about 300 students, but it is still in need of volunteers. 

Volunteering can be very easy: The TRC supplies in-house training and plenty of learning and background materials. TRC staff tailors the mentoring schedule as best as possible around the requests of the individual volunteer, scheduling them in the school that they prefer at times that they prefer. As part of the program, the TRC also hosts ongoing educational sessions for adult mentors – all on a totally voluntary basis. Many of those sessions include other adult peers who just trade stories and other tidbits to aid in the mentoring process.

The Michigan Reading Association recently honored the Taylor Reading Corps with its statewide agency award during the MRA’s winter conference and convention in Grand Rapids earlier this month.

The annual convention, “Lighting the Way for Literacy,” took place March 8-10 and drew more than 2,000 authors, educators and more to the DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids. The MRA is a non-profit group that is dedicated to promoting literacy in education and beyond.

Six statewide honors were awarded by the MRA. The MRA recognized the Taylor Reading Corps for its development as a non-profit literacy incubator since it was created in late 2011. 

Now in its second year, the TRC has sought to aid district pupils at the preschool and lower-elementary school level. It started recruiting, training and supervising adult reading volunteers last year, beginning on the kindergarten level. The corps ended up with approximately 100 adult mentors working with about 200 non-reading-proficient pupils. 

Despite the fact that the TRC was only able to work with those students for approximately half the school year, educators noted gains in their reading proficiency.

To volunteer or donate to the Taylor Reading Corps, email info@taylorreadingcorps.org or telephone 1-313-769-6730.

Anyone interested in the program can also click on the Web site at www.TaylorReadingCorps.org, or write to the TRC, PO Box 276, Taylor, MI, 48180. The TRC is open during regular business hours Mondays through Fridays in the old U.S. Army recruiting storefront office at 22755 Wick, inside the Sax Pharmacy plaza (Wick Road at Pardee). 

If you have other question, feel free to email me directly at karlziomek11@gmail.com.

-- Karl Ziomek