Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OREM -- A unique partnership is helping students at an Orem elementary school become better readers. The beauty of this partnership is it could exist in virtually every Utah neighborhood.
A few years ago, Windsor Elementary 5th grader Otavio Silva scored at the lowest level on state reading tests. Like many failing readers, he was on track to fall permanently behind, more likely to drop out of high school and therefore, statistically speaking, 47 times more likely to go to jail.
But Otavio embarked on a new path with the help of his reading tutor, Tom Thurston.
Not only is it helping academically, it also helps to provide that role model, that positive example for kids.
–Craig Jensen
"What Tom and I do together, he helps me and tells me things when I don't understand it," he said.
Thurston says he can see the improvement in his pupil.
"I think that we've made progress working together," Thurston said. "He reads much more fluently, that's the big and important one."
Otavio now scores at the highest level on state reading tests and has the confidence to pursue challenges.
"I read daily and I'm trying to finish the whole series, that's my goal for this year," he said.
Turnarounds like this one exist at many of the desks and tables at Windsor, where some tutoring teams have been reading together for years.
It's one factor that helped the school see an overall increase of 2 percent last year in language arts state test scores.
If I had a dream, it would be that people would walk ten minutes away from their home and find a place to serve.
–Kathy Gowans
"Not only is it helping academically, it also helps to provide that role model, that positive example for kids," said principal Craig Jensen.
The partnership started when neighbors -- specifically members of a nearby LDS stake -- saw a need and an opportunity.
They worked with the school and federal program AmeriCorps to train and coordinate volunteers. The consistency plays a big role in student success.
"If I had a dream, it would be that people would walk ten minutes away from their home and find a place to serve," said coordinator Kathy Gowans.
To get your neighborhood or church group involved, visit ReadToday.com.
E-mail: dwimmer@ksl.com
