Literacy Tutors Needed to Help Redwood City Middle School Students

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We are looking for tutors who can help students improve reading comprehension and knowledge and refine their writing skills. You will read with them, ask questions in order to go deeper into the context, and then tie the subject matter to their lives if possible. But perhaps more importantly, you will become a trusted adult in the lives of the students with whom you work. You can also help the students with time management and study skill strategies as well, and you will generally get to know the students as people. Many teachers explain that they wish they had the time in the day to get to know the students as we are able to do.

This year, our in-class middle school tutoring/mentoring program is moving online! Our volunteers will be tutoring over Zoom in either small groups (or one-on-one) with students who are distance learning from home.

We are currently looking for tutors who can make a school-year commitment and work 1-2 hours a week.

Tutors who enjoy working with adolescents and feel comfortable working with a variety of reading, writing, and critical thinking strategies are most likely to enjoy this work. Training is provided!

You will be introduced via email to your teacher ahead of time. Instructions are provided at the beginning of a class session by the teachers on the volunteer's assignment for the day. Typically the work includes helping the kids read aloud from articles or assigned reading and asking questions to help the kids think critically about the passages they're reading.

Los Ayudantes ("The Helpers" in Spanish) is a literacy, non-profit organization dedicated to helping Redwood City 6-8th grade students improve their literacy and critical thinking skills. We are the only local non-profit placing in-class volunteer tutors at middle schools in the Redwood City School District. Over 50% of students in the Redwood City district are designated English language learners and 43% of Redwood City third-grade students read one or two levels below their current grade. That figure rises to 65% for Latino students in the district, and unfortunately, many continue to read below grade level into middle school.