Marjorie from Wright to Read

From student Marwah:

Each week, Marjorie and I do reading worksheets, we read and we talk. Sometimes we talk about reading and sometimes we talk about stuff we just want to talk about. We read chapter books and also fiction and non-fiction. We’ve been reading together for almost a year.

Outside of the library, we’ve gone to the IHOP [for the holiday dinner]. We also went to the summer picnic. Also, we sometimes eat marshmallows after reading.

From working with my mentor, I’ve learned how to read fluently and how to understand what I’ve read. And I’ve learned a lot more sight words. Marjorie has helped me get my reading level really high, and she’s always nice.

From tutor/mentor Marjorie:

Marwah and I have been reading together at Beatley Library once a week for close to a year. Her improvement over that time has been amazing and inspiring to watch. She has
always had a wonderful attitude, but now I see her confidence growing as she tackles big words and complex sentences.

We typically spend our hour together reviewing flash cards, practicing writing, doing workbook exercises and reading books of Marwah’s choice. She is open to reading almost any book, but she especially likes ones with colorful pictures and ones with animals. Marwah also has a wonderful sense of humor and expressively gives voice to the characters in funny books, like Mo Willems’ “Elephant and Piggie” series. Her favorite sweet is a marshmallow so I sometimes remember to bring those along.


Through Wright to Read, I’ve been able to work with Marwah to improve our reading, but I’ve also gotten to know her whole family. It’s a great organization, providing plenty of support and help.

This article was previously featured in the Alexandria Gazette and the Wright to Read Blog. 

Corrine from Wright to Read

From Corrine

In late 2015, I began looking for volunteer opportunities as a way to give back to my community. I came across Wright to Read and was impressed with the organization’s mission and what they’ve accomplished. I know how important and enjoyable reading can be and I wanted to help a child experience this same joy and prepare them to succeed in life. Shortly after expressing an interest and going through the formalities, I was paired with Liam — a wonderful second (now third) grade student at Patrick Henry Elementary School.

When our sessions first began in January 2016, Liam wasn’t very interested in reading on Saturday mornings (let alone at all); however, I soon gained his trust and utilized some resources from Wright to Read to make the sessions as enjoyable as possible. As time progressed, Liam began to make improvements in the way of taking the time to sound out words, identifying words more quickly, and reading comprehension.

Liam began to take note of his own progress, which only made him want to get better. Noticing the positive change in his effort and attitude towards reading, I made sure to acknowledge his progress in various ways (e.g., verbal praise, stickers, and spot awards). Overall, Liam has become more interested in reading and is eager to get to the reading portion of our sessions, which gives me great joy.

Liam has been such a joy to work with and I have been so impressed and amazed with his progress. It’s safe to say that Liam now enjoys reading. He has improved by leaps and bounds, and even recently received a verbal shout out over the PA system at school for his progress in reading. Liam’s parents tell me about all the various opportunities he takes to improve his reading skills: reading to younger neighbors, reading to his parents, requesting to read the newspaper, among others. Every time I hear something like this, it puts a smile on my face and makes what I’m doing worthwhile. Liam was promoted to the third grade and I look forward to continuing our work together.

From Liam

Each week, Ms. Corrine and I practice sight words and read together at the library. We have been working together for over one year. The types of books we read include half human and half animal books. We also read monster and superhero books. Some special things I have enjoyed doing with Ms. Corrine include reading books and fun activities such as word games. I also enjoy when Ms. Corrine talks to my parents. Ms. Corrine has helped me learn how to spell her name, to enjoy reading, and I’ve learned more about animals. I think Ms. Corrine should be mentor of the month, because she has helped me with my reading and she has been with me every step of the way.

From Liam’s Mom

We have seen great progress in our son's reading level since he began being tutored by a wonderful, encouraging, and generous woman. We are so grateful to her and Wright to Read for all of their assistance.

This article was previously featured in the Alexandria Gazette and the Wright to Read Blog. 

Leah of RARE

From Bill Corbett of RARE:

The Concerned Citizens Network of Alexandria (CCNA) created the "Reach and Rise for Excellence" (RARE) after-school mentoring and tutoring program for Hammond Middle School students. The STEM focused program meets four days a week to help students with math, language arts, leadership and life skills which include introduction to entrepreneurship, computer coding, parent engagement and more. Leah Swanson is the RARE Mentor of the Month.

Leah is in her second year as a math tutor for RARE students, helping them do online math drills as a blended approach to improve their skills.

“Most of the math I do with the students is introductory algebra. We figure out integers, how number lines work, and positive and negative numbers. Some of the students are doing the math of triangles in geometry, too.

“I've been volunteering to work with kids since I was in high school. When I'm with RARE students, I enjoy talking with them about things they enjoy in life outside of math and outside of school. I think it's important that the kids have adults they can talk to who can relate to them who aren't authority figures, just people with some experience to offer.

“It's been interesting to see all the different ways students learn, and how they explain it all. Having them explain a problem, and how to solve it, has shown me there are a lot of ways to do math and think about it. Especially with kids for whom math is not a strong suit, when you talk to them and share enough that they can explain the problem back to you, it's very rewarding. It makes them very proud of themselves.”

One of Leah's students says, “Miss Leah is good at listening to whatever we want to talk about. And she asks us a lot of questions that make us think.”

This article was previously published in the Alexandria Gazette,  http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2017/jan/20/mentor-month-alexandria/

Elodie from Space Of Her Own

Rebecca and Elodie met through the SOHO program back in 2014. On the first day of the program, they were sitting together and immediately had a great connection. Rebecca is from El Salvador originally and is very interested in other cultures and Elodie is from France and loves to share her love for international travel. Rebecca quickly asked Elodie to talk to her about her country, cultural differences and what language people speak in France. Elodie also wanted to find out about Rebecca’s original country of El Salvador. A friendship quickly built from there.

Each Thursday evening, they met through the SOHO program and worked on art projects together, including painting, making pillows, ceramics, and other projects with the objective to create a space for Rebecca in her home. At the end of the program, Rebecca was sharing a room with her brother and made her “corner” her own space with crafts she had worked on all year long with Elodie along with some new fun things they bought together.

After two years of starting the program, Elodie and Rebecca have a close friendship and see each other on a regular basis to see movies, go to coffee, do some shopping or just talk about school, life, and everything in between. As Elodie says, “Rebecca has brought so much more to my life than I had ever imagined. We have a very strong bond that I plan to cherish for life”. Elodie was so happy when Rebecca told her that she had decided to take French in middle school and promised Rebecca to take her to Europe when she graduates from high school.

This article was previously published in the Alexandria Gazette,  http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2017/feb/10/mentor-week-cross-cultural-connection/

Peter Tomaselli of Wright to Read

FROM PETER:

As a public servant for the City of Alexandria, I have always taken great pride in providing exemplary customer service to the local citizens of this city. The city government has always had a strong belief in providing these high levels of customer service at all costs. They, also, have had a strong belief in finding ways to ensure that our youth of tomorrow succeed in life.

I would be fortunate enough to get my opportunity towards making a positive impact on the youth of tomorrow when I decided to attend an information session hosted by the Alexandria Mentoring Partnership. I learned about all the admirable programs that were in need of strong, positive mentors. Out all of those fascinating programs, I would end up being drawn towards the Wright to Read program. This program intrigued me the most primarily because I knew about the valuable importance of reading, especially, as it related to academic success and attaining further knowledge.

When I decided to become a mentor with the Wright to Read program, I really didn’t know what to expect. At first, I felt a tad anxious because I realized I would be responsible for a young individual’s success in meeting all desired reading goals. I, also, realized that I would have a strong hand in this young individual’s maturation process. So, the thought of all this became rather overwhelming to me. Fortunately, there was no reason for me to think or feel this way because I realized that I would not be alone in this mentoring process. Wright to Read willingly provided me all the tools needed to succeed in their program. Plus, I was fortunate enough to have a great supporting cast in my mentee’s family who were willing to accommodate me in any manner possible because they truly cared about the overall success of my mentee, Sean.

Sean has been such a pleasure to have as a mentee. I truly appreciate his strong effort and persistence in striving to improve in all facets of literacy. I am really not surprised that Sean has progressed in the manner that he has because he has, definitely, put in all the hard work during our sessions at the library and at home with his family. Sean is the main reason why I am even being considered for Wright to Read’s Mentor of the Month. This nomination consideration is a testament of the nearly two years of hard work that Sean and I have embarked together. I am very excited to see with what the future will hold for Sean.

FROM SEAN:

My mentor, Peter, and I read every week at Beatley Library. We met when I was a second grader and continued meeting during the summer when school was out. I like meeting with Peter to improve my reading. I have learned to improve my fluency in reading. I have also increased my reading speed and I don’t sound choppy anymore. We read mostly books that interests me. We have ready anywhere from poetry to fiction to non-fiction books.

We sometimes meet outside of our sessions on the weekends as well. We like going to the pool and having family dinners. The best day was when my mentor met me at the renaissance festival for my birthday.

Peter deserves to be the Mentor of the Month, because we have worked as a team to improve each week. He always pushes me to go to the next level. The Wright to Read program has helped me read over the level I am supposed to be. I truly consider my mentor a big brother. Thank you Wright to Read!

This article was previously published in the Alexandria Gazette, http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2017/jan/13/helping-shape-future-alexandria-mentor-month/