Why take the long way around to connect kids with mentors in the 9-R school district, as was traced out in a recent front page story (Herald, Feb. 3)?
The Check and Connect program, which provided academic mentoring in the district for several years, blew up on 9-R, so management turned to AmeriCorp to fill the gap.
But these well-meaning AmeriCorp kids are also short-timers. What about pairing local oldsters with local kids to get the job done?
I’m a retired teacher and an involved community member. Two years ago, I met with 9-R members as well as the Durango Education Foundation. In both meetings, I discussed the need to create a volunteer “Literacy Partners Program,” pairing local adult volunteers with individual students in order to give the kids academic help developing their reading skills, and the emotional lift that goes with it.
I have a large network of retired friends and former professionals who expressed an interest in giving an hour or two of their time on a weekly basis during the academic school year.
Furthermore, I was informed that there would be adequate funding for such a low-cost program via a modest grant. I proceeded to meet with administrators, created a proposal outline and other initial documentation.
After several months of discussion, the idea was rebuffed and discouraged by a local school administrator who claimed that such a program had been tried before and didn’t work!
It’s a shame that 9-R isn’t able to recognize the potential benefits of going local with this issue. We have a stupendous and very active retired population that would love to give back to the community, but alas ... we are not encouraged.
Joan Rosenberg
Durango
