Michigan's AmeriCorps Member Council - Posting #19

Hello Everyone! This is Colette Jenkins, a first year member representing Readetroit AmeriCorps. We have 26 full-time members who are placed in 15 Detroit Public Schools. We address the critical literacy needs of children that have been identified as having extreme reading deficiencies.

There are three core components to the RDC program: tutoring, mentoring, and volunteer management. Members are placed in teams of two or four at elementary or middle schools; addressing the local needs by providing individual and group sessions, mentoring students that have a parent who is incarcerated, and volunteering to help children with reading.

I am completing my year of service at Heilmann Park Elementary School, home to the Superstars. I have been blessed to serve a wonderful group of students, mostly fifth graders. We start our sessions off by greeting each other and asking how everyone’s day is going. If we are returning from the weekend then we ask about each other’s weekend and if something exciting took place - sometimes the children had great weekends and sometimes they didn’t. Either way they feel comfortable sharing with the group or other times they need to speak with me privately and I make time after our session for a one-on-one discussion.

I’ve built a good relationship with the children based on care and concern as well as respect and trust. They know when they are with me they will not be ridiculed, bullied, or made to feel bad; I always end the sessions by telling them to have a good day and to remain positive.

The principal, Ms. Yvette Little, has been extremely supportive of our program. My team members and I pick up books twice a month for the school, thanks to the generous donations by Kiwanis International. We have implemented a book club which is called “You Read 2 Me, I’ll Read 2 You.” The AmeriCorps members host our book club every Friday after school for one hour, where we read to the children and they read to us and then we have group discussions to make sure the children have comprehended what they read. We give out incentives that have been donated by Communities in Schools Detroit. We select a new book weekly and once we have completed the book, we give the book to the children to take home and build their own library. We started out with about 30 children and we are up to about 60 and still growing. We have parent volunteers, as well as the teachers that are helping us out.

We have hosted a family literacy night called “Share a Story”, where we had a community partner come to our school and read to the children and their parents. We raffled off gifts for a parent in each grade and then we had one grand prize. The students and parents really enjoyed this event. I was able to secure small dictionaries for my fifth grade students courtesy of Communities in Schools Detroit. The children showed their appreciation by writing thank you letters to CIS.

I’ve heard the expression that children are the future, but to me children are the here and now. I like to think children leave their handprints on your heart and adults need to leave footprints for children to follow. I want to be the change - I want to see in the world…so I ask: have you changed a life today?