My Nonprofit Reviews

tdean
Review for Read-Aloud Volunteer Program, San Pablo, CA, USA
I have been a volunteer with this program since 2005. I learned about the organization from members of my church who had been active volunteers for yeats and spoke in glowing terms about it. The program focuses on kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade students, who are selected by their teachers as children who might benefit from the one on one attention, and the exposure to reading and books that they may not be receiving at home. I have worked with each grade level during my 4 years in the program, and have seen each student's comprehension and social interaction skills improve considerably. My most unique and rewarding experience occurred during the 2008-09 school year. I read to a 2nd grade student from Yemen, whose English skills were limited. It was frustrating at first, as it was difficult to know just how much he was profiting from the experience, and much of our time was spent in reciting the alphabet, numbers exercises and object identification. After consultation with the site coordinator, his teacher, and his other reader(each child is read to 30 minutes per week by 2 different adults), we made some adaptations to the normal program, and he thrived. His ability to converse in English improved, his social interactions were more frequent and comfortable and his comprehension was such that he listened to and seemed to understand much of what was read to him. I am a retired Probation Officer, and know first hand the importance of early intervention programs. The strengths of Read Aloud are the quality of its books, the dedication of its staff and volunteers and the individual attention the students receive. If you enjoy working with children and are looking for a positive volunteer experience, this is the place for you.
More Feedback
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
the growth in reading comprehension and skills in the students served
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
not change a thing.
What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
my interaction with the students, the other volunteers, and the staff.
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
dedicated and friendly.
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
serve a much larger group of students
Ways to make it better...
as a new volunteer I had had more contact with the teachers. I have learned from experience how valuable this is.
In my opinion, the biggest challenges facing this organization are...
recruitment and retention of volunteers.
One thing I'd also say is that...
I believe I have said everything I wanted to say.
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2009