Press release from the United Way of Allen County:
More REAL MEN READ Volunteers Needed
(October 1, 2010) – Learn United’s Real Men Read program is still signing up individuals who want to volunteer one hour a month in a second or third grade classroom. Anyone interested can sign up online at www.LearnUnited.org or call 260-469-4030. If volunteers sign up today, they can be trained on October 5 or October 11, so they will be ready to read to students beginning October 14, 2010.
An open house to learn more about Real Men Read and Classroom Buddy volunteer opportunities is set for October 5, 2010 at the Public Safety Academy of Northeast Indiana, 7602 Patriot Crossing. New volunteers will receive literacy training at 5:30 p.m. The public is invited between 6:30 and 8 p.m. to learn more about Learn United and its various volunteer opportunities. Everyone can enjoy a slice of cake, and current volunteers are welcome to stop in and pick up their material for the coming year.
Real Men Read volunteers work in the second and third grade classrooms of East Allen County and Fort Wayne Community schools. They volunteer once a month to read to the entire class. Classroom buddies volunteer once a week and work with one student or a small group of students in 15 elementary schools located in all four local public school districts.
All Learn United volunteers go through a background check and are provided training in the foundations of literacy in order to gain simple skills that help children learn to read.
Learn United is a ten-year effort to ensure that all Allen County third-graders read at grade level. More than 1,000 local third-graders do not pass the ISTEP reading test every year; studies show that 74 percent of children who fall behind by third grade never catch up and gain the reading skills needed to be successful.
Learn United is a collaborative partnership between United Way of Allen County, the Allen County Education Partnership, all four Allen County public school districts, and The Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce. For more information visit, www.LearnUnited.org.
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