Tutors Build Reading Bridges Across Schools

High-schooler Michaela Mathis had trouble getting her third-grade reading partner Quesean Young to focus. She learned she needs to take a few breaks and talk with him for a bit, before going back to the book. 

The Career High senior fortified her patience after a few months of tutoring at John Martinez School through a joint-school reading program called ​“Building Bridges.” The program, now in its second year, has helped Career students develop teaching skills and Martinez students read at higher levels in half the time.

Career science teacher Haifa Abdel-Jalil catalyzed the program at the beginning of last year, motivated by her own experience learning English by herself, without help from her parents, who spoke Arabic.

Abdel-Jalil, a stay-at-home mother for nine years before starting her teaching career, said her first-born daughter ​“struggled with reading” although she read to her every night. At home, the family spoke both English and Arabic.

Abdel-Jalil said she realized her daughter was one of the lucky ones, despite her difficulties in reading, because she had parents who spoke English fluently and were able to help her. ​“What would happen to kids without this kind of support at home?” she said.

She realized her students at Career High School were ​“a good asset” and could help replicate that parental support for English language learners at other schools. Her daughter, now 25 years old and a teacher in New Haven, had substitute taught at Martinez School and suggested it would be a good partner school because of its large population of students who speak Spanish at home.

Abdel-Jalil and fellow Career teacher Bob Osborne (pictured above) set up meetings with administrators at both schools and decided to pilot the program at the start of last year. They drew 20 seniors from their school to travel to Martinez and tutor Martinez kids during school hours.

Osborne said he was surprised by how much the younger students seemed to enjoy the experience. ​“They looked up to our seniors,” he said.

After a year, they looked into making the program more official, by creating a half-credit course for their seniors for the twice-weekly tutoring, and getting the district to provide regular bus transportation from Career to Martinez School in the mornings. Martinez School’s literacy coach works with each new group of seniors to train them to direct students in a ​“nice” and constructive way, said the school’s principal, Myrna Montalvo.

The data has shown that almost half of the Martinez students in the program have significantly improved their reading levels over the last year. And the younger kids bond with their tutors, Montalvo (pictured above at right) said. ​“When they don’t come, the kids are asking, ​‘Where are the tutors?’” she said.

A new principal at the school this year, Montalvo said she recognized one of her past students in the group of Career High tutors. Senior Katherine Matos (pictured above at left) was in Montalvo’s kindergarten class at Martinez School years ago, and decided to come back to tutor kids at her alma mater.

Matos tutored third-grader Melanie Castillo (pictured above at left), who had big plans for her reading levels and for her future. She plans to get her reading level from 34 to an off-the-charts 100. ​“I’m going to make it and then I’m going to go to college and then I’m going to be a doctor,” she said. Matos and another tutor high-fived her.

The tutors take turns reading books aloud to their elementary-school partners, sometimes choosing books they enjoyed when they were younger, Osborne said. ​“We’ve seen a lot of kids who we didn’t expect to be good mentors just blossom,” he said.

One student was frustrated at the beginning of the program because the younger student she partnered with was not responding emotionally. The older student would ​“go home and cry,” Osborne said. But eventually, two weeks before the end of the semester, the younger kid ​“loosened up,” and the older student realized she was similar as a child — it took her a long time to open up to her teachers or ​“give them anything.”

This year, more than twice the number of Career seniors have signed up to tutor — 48 compared to last year’s 20. A few agreed that the hardest part about tutoring was keeping younger kids’ interest in reading.

“Sometimes the little ones are tired, especially when they are being challenged a bit,” Abdel-Jalil said. ​“It’s critical that we not push them too hard.” Career students brainstorm teaching strategies with one another on the bus ride over, giving and requesting advice on how to engage individual students in the activities.

Third-graders Ezekiel Lind and Romell Ruiz (pictured above) had too much energy to sit and read, so their tutors Khyann Taylor and Liz Nerkowski pulled out a reading board game. The boys raced each other to move a playing piece along a trail of words, only hopping the piece to the next word if they read it correctly aloud.

Jhoselyn Jara said she rewards her third-grade partner Vanessa Teniza with a treat if she finishes half a book each tutoring session. They also play reading games with the words Teniza has problems remembering. Jara gives Teniza a sticker if she gets the word correct.

Tutoring ​“helped me communicate better with all age groups. I try to get closer to them so they can feel comfortable with me,” Jara said.

Osborne and Abdel-Jalil said they hope more schools will replicate the model, with more high schools pairing with elementary or middle schools. ​“It’s one of those programs that works for everybody logistically,” Osborne said. ​“Could it become a bigger program? Absolutely. I would certainly encourage everyone to try it.”

The extra one-on-one time gives ​“teachers time to interact with other kids in their classrooms,” Abdel-Jalil said, and at little cost to anyone.