You Already Have What It Takes to Make A Real Difference In A Child’s Life

Do you love to read? Then you’ll want to know this.

You can help schoolchildren who fell behind during the pandemic get back on track and become better readers. Educators are now working to overcome what’s being called COVID learning loss, and AARP Foundation Experience Corps is looking for Volunteer Tutors to help schools when they need it most.

You may be surprised to learn that you don’t need to have tutoring or teaching experience to become a Volunteer Tutor. Experience Corps provides all the training and support you will need to help students become better readers by the end of third grade.

Why third grade? Research shows that children who are reading by third grade are far more likely to graduate from high school, attend and complete college, earn higher incomes, and have overall better life outcomes.

In fact, students who worked one-to-one with Experience Corps tutors for a single school year, in fact, saw more than 60 percent greater gains in critical literacy skills compared with students not served by the program.

Experience Corps is actively looking for people who want to make a difference like this in their community. Does that sound like you?

Why volunteer

As an Experience Corps Volunteer Tutor, you’ll help plant the seeds for a future generation of successful students — right now at school and later in life. Our volunteers tell us there’s nothing better than the feeling they get when making a difference in a child’s life.

Volunteering is also good for your physical and mental health as you grow older, keeping you active and connected to the community. Of Experience Corps volunteers surveyed, 96% reported feeling better about themselves, and more than 85% felt that their lives had improved because of their involvement with the program.

In fact, Experience Corps was created to help older adults as much as young children. Volunteers get opportunities to build transferable skills and connections with their communities that help them thrive later in life.

How it works

As you might expect, our Volunteer Tutors work with students during the school year, which means you will be “off-duty” in the summer. Tutoring sessions take place in one-to-one or small group settings of no more than three students, giving you a chance to really get to know the students.

To become a Volunteer Tutor, you will need to:

Undergo a criminal background check (because you are working with young children)
Complete a two-day training with a local organization administering Experience Corps
Commit to tutoring and tracking student progress once or twice per week during the school year

Volunteering also comes with a peer network and ongoing support, so you’re never completely on your own in the classroom. Experience Corps is always there to help you make a difference as a Volunteer Tutor.

I always say K-3 is for learning to read, and after that, it’s reading to learn. If you can’t read, you’re in big trouble.
Calvin Leonard, Longtime Experience Corps Volunteer Tutor and 2023 President’s Lifetime Achievement Awardee for Volunteer Service