Three young lives bettered by one committed mentor
February 14, 2017
Originally published by .
To celebrate National Mentoring Month, weâre talking with colleagues about their mentoring work with some of our  partners, including Reading PartnersĚý˛š˛ÔťĺĚý. Thereâs also a wonderful  about âWhy Mentoring Matters.â
A Pivotal Moment
Six years ago, Wendy Congleton met ninth grader Quayla.
They were matched through Colorado Youth at Risk, a mentoring program created to support teens at risk of not graduating high school.
Almost four years later, Quayla earned her GED.
âIt was such a crowning moment,â Wendy says.
âIt made me realize how the fundamentals of learningâreading and math literacyâaffect your long-term ability to get a job, have meaningful employment, and just get through the day-to-day.â
âConnecting with a mentor in the right way helped her advance her life,â Wendy says.
It turns out, Wendyâs time with Quayla was the first of many profound mentoring moments.
A Different Duty
This fall, Wendy started a new mentoring relationship.
âI loved being a mentor, but I needed something that was a lighter commitment.â
Through her work for Pearson, she learned about Reading Partners.
Reading Partners is a national, non-profit organization that pairs mentors with students in public school systems. In particular, they serve schools with large minority and low socioeconomic populations.
âThe mission really spoke to me,â Wendy says.
The Benefits of Flexibility
âI start work early â at 6 a.m.,â Wendy says, âso I can tutor around lunchtime.â
âPlus, I work from home and I found a school thatâs only three miles away.â
Once a week for 50 minutes, Wendy meets first grader Jessi at Columbine Elementary for a mentoring session.
âHeâs a very energetic little boyâŚwho is off-and-on interested in reading,â Wendy says.
âHe was very far behind at the beginning of the school year.â
Reading Together
Reading Partners provides Wendy and other mentors with a detailed curriculum â lesson plans, exercises, and games.
âFirst, I read to Jessi. Itâs a modeling exerciseâŚa time for him to listen,â Wendy says.
Then, the pair moves on to exercises.
âItâs a lot of bringing in new sounds, and especially complicated sounds and letter combinations,â Wendy says.
The sessions end in reverse, with Jessi reading to Wendy.
âItâs called âFluency,â and it can be really fun,â Wendy says.
âJessi reads for 60 seconds while I time him, and we count the total number of words he reads.â
They do this twice at the end of each session.
âItâs a real joy for Jessi when he improves minute to minuteâŚwhich always makes my day better, too.â
Something to Celebrate
Just before the holidays, after two months of weekly sessions with Wendy, Jessiâs reading ability was re-assessed.
The results showed âa marked improvement within the time frame.â
âIâm really proud,â Wendy says.
Trial and Error
Jessi is Wendyâs second mentee via Reading Partners.
Last year, she mentored Manuel.
He was in third grade, but was reading at a Kindergarten level.
âHe always did well with sounds, with words,â Wendy says. âBut when we got to the part of the session where he read to me, he floundered.â
Wendy talked with the Reading Partnersâ Site Coordinator at his school.
âI said, âI feel like thereâs a missing link. He knows everything throughout the lesson, and then itâs like heâs never seen the words before.â
So they tested a different strategy.
During the lesson, Wendy solely focused on the âtrickyâ words for Manuel, assuming he had mastered the easier ones.
âWhen it was time for him to read, I said, âYouâre going to do great. You know every word in this book.ââ
During the minute-long âFluencyâ test, Manuel read the whole book.
He looked at Wendy: âI can read!ââ
âIt was such a breakthrough moment for himâŚand for me,â Wendy says.
A Special Kind of Support
Wendy continues to see Jessi every week.
âIt means a lot to me that Pearson supports this,â she says.
âMost people donât have as much flexibility as I do, but I tell them about my experience and encourage them to get involved when they can.â
âThrough Quayla, Manuel, JessiâŚIâve seen how important it is to have a strong person, a positive image, in your life,â Wendy says.
âThat doesnât happen for everybody.â
