Shaping young minds one volunteer at a time.

The Mission of AVID Readers:
To promote a lifelong love of reading in the children of Tulsa
by recruiting adult and youth volunteers to read books for one
hour a week one-to-one with children in local child care centers.

AmeriCorps Volunteer reading with Warren and
Finn (age 2) at Crosstown Learning Center.

(Asterisk * indicates Internet link on Related Links page)

“I want to read!” These words ring out every day from children in the AVID Readers program. AVID is a simple concept with a big impact. Its mission is to get children excited about reading so they have the necessary skills to learn to read.

AVID is a local grassroots effort in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is one of numerous programs nationwide that aim to hook children on books. It is part of the Tulsa Volunteer Center*, a program of the Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa*, a United Way* agency.

Research shows that reading with children from infancy, giving them their own books to keep, modeling reading in the home, school and community, and tutoring those who struggle with learning to read through literacy-related games and literature-based activities dramatically increases the likelihood of a child becoming an avid reader and a lifelong learner.

Approximately 75% of children served by AVID receive child care assistance or participate in the free and reduced lunch program.
AVID programs consist of:
· Adult and youth volunteers reading one-to-one with children from infants to elementary school age in child care centers and preschools.
· Reading circles that involve volunteers who read books with small groups of children, encourage older children to read one-to-one with younger children, and model reading while the children read to themselves. Reading circles occur in Head Start classes, FAST* (Families and Schools Together) programs, and after-school programs.
· New and gently-used books given to children and adults to keep.
· Training parents to read with their children and encouraging families to read together through family literacy efforts.
· Engaging children in literacy-based activities designed to spark their desire and help them read fluently and independently.

Illiteracy as a Local and National Crisis
Approximately 18% of Oklahoma’s adults are functionally illiterate. (Oklahoma Department of Libraries Literacy Resource Office*) In Tulsa, this figure is 17%, and in Tulsa County it is 15%. According to the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress, 38% of fourth graders cannot read at grade level. Studies show that 75% of children who read poorly at the end of third grade never become successful readers. Thus, a future where 29% of adults cannot read at a functioning level is possible without programs like AVID Readers.

Currently, an estimated 22% of the nation’s adults, or about 44 million people, are functionally illiterate, according to the National Adult Literacy Survey. Another 45 million to 50 million people, or an additional 25% to 28% of adults can read at a basic level but lack higher-level problem-solving skills associated with fluent literacy skills. (National Institute for Literacy*)
Funding
AVID is funded with donations from the Corporation for National Service, local foundations and individual contributors. It is staffed with one full-time director and seven full-time AmeriCorps*VISTA members who serve as program coordinators. Publishers provide AVID with discounts on new books, and numerous organizations and individuals organize book drives to supply donated books. Donations to AVID are tax deductible, and the majority of funds are used to purchase books and literacy-related activities for children and families with limited financial resources.
Volunteers
As of May 2001, AVID has 115 volunteers reading with nearly 280 children in 10 locations across Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 2000, volunteers spent more than 2,600 hours reading with children.

Both one-to-one and Reading Circle volunteers can be retirees, working adults, college students, teen-agers, elementary school students, AmeriCorps members and Federal Work-Study* students. Current AVID volunteers come from RSVP* Retired & Senior Volunteer Program, Junior League of Tulsa*, Rotary* and numerous other civic, business, church and youth organizations.

Reading Circles, one-to-one reading and book drives make wonderful ongoing or one-time service projects for groups of students, employees, church groups, retirees or others looking for ideas to enhance group dynamics and foster teamwork. Email us about being a volunteer with AVID Readers today!
Books
In 2000 AVID gave away more than 3,000 books for adults, young children and teen-agers to keep. The book-giveaway component is an important outreach element of AVID’s services. Children often ask, “Do I get to take a book home today?” Home libraries are sprouting and expanding thanks to AVID Readers.
Bringing It All Together
AVID’s focus is children from infancy through age 5, when brains are developing and absorbing information like sponges. When a child shares a book with an adult, youth or other child, the wiring in his or her brain reaches for and solidifies the necessary connections that provide the pathways for learning*. On the contrary, when a child watches television instead of hearing a story and interacting with a real person and a book, the wiring significantly slows, sometimes to the point where connections are left gaping and the necessary pathways for learning are lost.

AVID aims to provide neighborhood-based family literacy programs that revolve around local child care centers just as neighborhoods once revolved around local elementary schools. Thanks to a grant from the City of Tulsa, AVID is achieving this mission in two Tulsa neighborhoods. AVID targets neighborhoods with a high population of low-income residents and partners with existing services, such as Tulsa Alliance for Families*, Family and Children’s Services* and Salvation Army, to provide literacy activities for families in these communities.

By using a neighborhood-focused approach, AVID expands literacy beyond classroom walls and into the community. Parents don’t just hear about their child’s AVID volunteer, but they get to experience AVID’s benefits as well.

Reading to children, teaching and encouraging parents to read with their children, and giving away books comprise the bulk of AVID’s services. The AVID program can be implemented into any structure, any program, any school. All it takes is determination, a few funds, a coordinator who can be a volunteer, AmeriCorps member or part-time staff, and most of all, community support.

As Jim Trelease wrote in his book, The New Read-Aloud Handbook, “The problem is that we have focused exclusively on teaching children how to read and have forgotten to teach them to want to read. There is the key – desire. It is the prime mover, the magic ingredient.” Help a child and a family gain the necessary resources to love reading. Volunteer to become an AVID Reader today!

"These are all our children.
We will all profit by, and pay for,
whatever they become."
James Baldwin

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Shaping young minds one volunteer at a time.

AmeriCorps Volunteer reading with Warren and Finn (age 2) at Crosstown Learning Center.

AVID programs consist of:

Illiteracy as a Local and National Crisis

Funding

Volunteers

Books

Bringing It All Together

"These are all our children. We will all profit by, and pay for, whatever they become." James Baldwin

AmeriCorps Volunteer reading with Warren and
Finn (age 2) at Crosstown Learning Center.

"These are all our children.
We will all profit by, and pay for,
whatever they become."
James Baldwin