Joy is proud of our members who, in addition to working directly with outreach and community ministries at Joy, also have projects and services they serve passionately outside of our Church community. This blog series is an effort to highlight some of those passions, and the vast opportunities available to serve others.
Meet member Martha Lowe, who works with Reading Partners to give children, particularly those from low income families, who struggle with reading the opportunity to grow and have hope for their futures.
When I was a child I was very, very active and loved to sing. I am certain I was called a hyperactive child and probably had Attention Deficit Disorder because I am certain I still have it. I loved life and life loved me back. I was happy, and I loved school, but as much as I loved going to school and being with my friends; when it came to reading I struggled. I loved learning, but sit me down with a book and yes I could read and totally understand the story as I read, but ask me questions later, and my head was empty. My sister and parents were avid readers, and my sister was a straight A student who did all of her homework in front of the television but everything distracted me. I could sit at my desk in my quiet room for hours and not get my homework done. If something wasn't in its place I would need to move it, so I could focus. I was frustrated and wanted to know what was wrong with me. I felt so stupid.
As time went by I had more and more trouble in school because being able to read and retain what you read is essential in order to show you are learning. I got to the point where I was giving up, so because I had a beautiful voice for a young person, my mother made me audition to sing a song at the 8th grade concert. I was chosen to sing, loved performing, and got a standing ovation. Mom took me to a voice teacher who was supposed to be one of the best in the Chicago area where I auditioned and began weekly voice lessons as his youngest student. I found something that I loved and that made me feel special.
Reading had become such a frustration to me that my mother felt I needed to find something that I could feel good about. Singing filled my heart, but reading continued to be a problem. There were no supportive reading programs available at that time, so I continued to struggle and hated reading more and more until I did give up. If I had to read a book; I simply didn't read it. This led to meetings with teachers enrolling me in unusual classes where there was no reading just doing, and I could learn by doing. I made movies in Humanities, I learned mechanics through Hands On Physics, and loved learning about my mind in Psychology. These classes were small, my teachers got to know me, and I excelled. This was great, but my grades had only been C's and some D's before these A's, so my parents were afraid there would be no way for me to be accepted at any college. God had other plans. I graduated from the largest high school in the state of Illinois with a grade point average just barely in the top 50%. My hands on classes had been my friends, but what next?
My mother was from Jacksonville, a small town in central Illinois where there were two liberal arts colleges. My mother's two brothers graduated from one of them, Illinois College. They had married, stayed in town, and financially supported their alma mater very well. Mom knew that I had always loved Illinois College with its tall spires, old stately buildings, brick sidewalks, and beautiful small campus; so without my knowledge she asked her brothers to put in a good word for me, and I was accepted. My professors all got to know me and my love of learning, so they gave me extra support, and I began to excel in my classes. I got through my required courses with C's, but I was so interested in my major, Sociology, that I read everything I could get my hands on, and loved writing papers about what I was learning and the experiences I was having.
I was given the opportunity to go into the rural areas where uneducated low income families just barely scraped out enough income to live. The younger families didn't know how to care for their children, purchase nutritious food they could afford and prepare it, or keep their children well through good hygiene. I loved these people and was drawn to them. I was so excited about learning about different kinds of people and meeting the needs of people that made myself take copious notes while I read. These opportunities for so many hands on projects lead to better nutrition and hygiene practises for rural families, better local transportation for the disabled, and Meals of Wheels in Morgan County, Illinois.
Because I loved working with diverse populations of people I knew immediately where God was calling me. Working for years with families on government assistance and using the gifts God gave me; I found ways to give people who needed someone to believe in them and validate them the tools they needed to have hope and belief in themselves. After working for 22 years at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services I tried to retire, but again that was not God's plan. My life long struggle with comprehension and retention in reading lead me to more than a job with Reading Partners.
I had never heard of this organization, but it used Americorps Members who were paid a stipend for coordinating reading centers and tutoring children who were 2mo.-2 years behind in reading at the Tulsa Public Schools. Wow, a free program for children who were struggling with reading! I applied and after a thrilling interview was hired. The only schools where Reading Partners has reading centers are the Title I Tulsa Public Schools where the children of the very lowest income families attend school. These children begin their school day at 7:30a.m. and if they are there on time; they receive free breakfast. They also get free lunch, afternoon snacks, the backpack program on weekends, and other needed services. In the classroom they were taught by some of the most dedicated teachers I have ever met. The schools where Reading Partners has reading centers are 28 Tulsa Public Elementary Schools. These are schools where high percentages of children are far behind in many subjects, but especially reading. They have parents who are either so depressed and tired they spend very little time with their children, the kids are being raised by grandparents, and/or sleeping arrangements are with several siblings sharing a bed or sleeping in a pile of blankets on the floor. These children do not have anyone who read to them or with them, so outside of school most of them do not receive the support they need to develop the 3rd grade reading skills they need by the end of 3rd grade.
I was hooked by Reading Partners, applied, and was hired on the spot. Did I tell you God had a plan? I was trained for 2 months on building relationships and working with the tutors I would train, the school staff, and the students; then I was given a classroom in Park Elementary School; one of the oldest schools in west Tulsa that had been turned into an open concept school. It was like being in one huge room with teachers, kids in grades 1st through 5th, and a great deal of noise! The building was round, so each classroom had an outside wall with large windows and several 8' - 10' bookcases that divided one class from another.
My classroom area had the main restrooms used by the students on one wall and book cases and a sink on the other. One corner had 2 bulletin boards and a carpeted area that I knew would be a special reading area. I was given a desk, chair, small laptop computer, printer, and 6 round tables with chairs. It was up to me to make this space functional and fun. So, my work began. I put a large poster up in the carpeted area that stated "This Is Going To Be A Comfy Reading Area - Anyone have a Couch?" Two days later a couch was carried to my room followed by an afghan and pillows.
Next thing I knew a wonderful lady was bringing a therapy dog to the school, and she wanted use my cozy area for children to read with her dog. Once a week she, her big sweet lovey dog, and several children would sprawl out in the reading area laying on and curled up on the dog reading out loud. Friends were made quickly in this environment, and I received 54 student referrals. Volunteer tutors began arriving to be trained on the curriculum and assigned to students.
I have never had a more difficult or rewarding job. I loved my tutors and adored the children who came through my center. When loving, caring people volunteer to tutor children from homes where the priority is to get the next meal on the table not reading, amazing miracles happen! The tutors and children became close friends, and tutors were being told they were loved and expressing love for their students as well. These relationships took a great deal of work to create since so many of the children were frustrated and angry due to the lives they were living at home. The tutors had to make their tutoring sessions places where trust, celebration, and safety abounded. Nothing could be taught if the relationship was not there.
Reading Partners has developed a curriculum and testing system that when used correctly has been proven to have a 90% success rate in teaching children who are struggling readers with no cognitive learning problems to obtain 3rd grade reading skills when the tutor follows: "I Do, We Do, You Do" which simply means that the tutor reads as the example, the tutor and students read together and learn together specific reading skills, and the student builds confidence to use the reading skill alone in front of the tutor. This would be followed by celebrating the learned skill. I have never been around so much love, acceptance, teaching and learning in my life! Every day the tutors would arrive, go the the classroom and get their student, and tutor. The students would come running out of the classroom to their tutors with a smile and a hug, and I got hugs, too. There were children who did not need the support of Reading Partners, but they wanted to come to the Reading Center, too. I spent my 7:00 - 4:00 days surrounded by classes of screaming and laughing active children with lots of behavior problems, teachers teaching these children using every creative method they could find, 10-15 tutors throughout the day reading, learning, and loving their struggling students, and observing and entering data to prove the program works. I prayed daily that enough people would choose to tutor at Park Elementary. My center successfully tutored 48 of the 54 1st and 2nd grade students and 90% of the students were at grade level by the end of the school year. 90% of 1st graders were ready for 2nd grade and 90% of 2nd graders were ready for 3rd grade. The 10% who were still behind came to Reading Partners the following year. The 6 students who were not tutored were forgotten that year because we did not have enough tutors. These children waited from September through April for someone to take 45 minutes out of their week to be an example, to be a partner who learns and supports, and an encourager who builds confidence in a child.
I learned that if children do not develop good reading skills by the end of 3rd grade that they continue to struggle with reading, and 50% may drop out of high school or get such poor grades that they flunk out of high school never earning their high school diploma or the chance to go to college. I was lucky I had a family that never gave up on me and gave my opportunities children from low income families never even dream of. I had people who believed in me, read to me and had me read to them. I had parents who knew reading was important and never, ever let me give up. This is the gift Reading Partners wants to give to the students it serves. I worked for Reading Partners for 2 years. I was a professional reading specialist the next year and tutored 11 students twice a week. We all grew! Now I tutor one child, Faith, twice a week. She will reach her goal by the end of April 2020. She is part of my life now, and I can't wait to see what stars she will reach in the years ahead!
Please take a minute and go to www.readingpartners.org or www.readingpartnerstulsa.org and volunteer. Miracles can happen in just 45 minutes a week!
