“Volunteers are the only human beings on the face of the earth who reflect this nation’s compassion, unselfish caring, patience, and just plain loving one another.”
~Erma Bombeck

I love to read. It’s why joined The READ Center. I cannot imagine what my life would have been, would be, if I could not read. I would certainly not have graduated from JMU (Go Dukes!) or be the executive director for The READ Center. My entire life would be different.

How about you? Do you love to read? Are you are looking for a way to give back to the community? Consider becoming a READ Center adult literacy tutor.

Not sure you can teach an adult to read? If you can read, have a willingness to learn, a sense of humor, patience and time to give, you’ll be a great tutor. We can teach you how. Our tutor trainers are the best!

What do READ tutors do? They help adults reach their literacy goals by helping them improve their reading and writing skills.

READ students have life and literacy goals. We help them get there. Student goals are as varied as our students. Some students want to get their driver’s license, some need help with a job certification tests or to improve their skills for promotion, some want to be able to help their children or grandchildren with homework while others want to read their bibles. No matter what they want to do, it all starts with improving their literacy skills.

While goals vary, what is the same in all of our students is their bravery in admitting that as an adult, they cannot read well. It is also their genuine and overwhelming thankfulness for the help and support they receive from READ teachers and tutors.

What’s the commitment? Tutor training is about 8 hours and we ask you tutor at least 2 hours per week for a year. We provide additional training through out the year if you want it and support from staff, teachers and experienced tutors when you need it. We also have a great library of resources.

The first training of the year will be held on Saturday January 21. If you are interested in tutoring, you can find the calendar of training dates and can register on our website.

If you want more information or have questions, there are videos, a tutor job description and more information on the website. You can also contact me or our Volunteer Coordinator, Teri Taylor at 804-288-9930 with questions or for more information.

I hope you will consider sharing your love of reading this year and become an adult literacy tutor. You’ll be great and it will be the experience of your life.

Happy 2017,

Karen La Forge, Executive Director