Lucy began meeting with her mentor, Kathy, in first grade. When they first started spending time together, it was clear that Lucy had an uphill battle with her reading. She wasn’t confident in her ability and was easily distracted in her efforts. Although Lucy’s teacher gave Kathy a reading assignment to do with her each week, they often struggled through it and sometimes didn’t even finish. They kept at it, and little by little, Lucy’s reading improved. At the end of first grade, she was still reading below grade level, but her confidence had increased, and she was more eager to complete her reading assignments.
When Kathy went back to school this fall to see Lucy, now in second grade, she was eager to see if her reading had improved over the summer. Although her confidence was up, Lucy was still reading at a Kindergarten level. Week after week, they kept at it, finding creative ways to make reading fun by doing it together. Lucy would occasionally comment that she knew she had it in her to be a good reader, she just needed to keep trying. After all, “confidence is key” they say.
In January, Lucy was determined to move to the next reading level and one day, was found reading on the playground before school practicing for her test later that week. “I have to do a good job on my test!” she told a teacher supervising the playground. (Who quickly snapped the picture you see on the front of your card!) Later that week, Lucy scored well enough on her test to move up to a new reading level! Together with her mentor, they celebrated her achievement with a game, a craft, and snack to share.
At Kids Hope USA, the value of mentoring is in the consistency. Week after week, month after month, and year after year. Your support helps us offer that consistency, with each student regularly encouraged and empowered by their mentor.
Written by: Kara Nguyen, Kids Hope Mentor
