Maya McFadden Photo
Liliana Nevarez with tutor Cecilia Dondorful-Amos.
New Haven Reads has opened its doors on Saturdays at its 85 Willow St. location, to help cut into a 200-plus-student tutoring waitlist.
Starting this week, the program now offers its one-on-one tutoring Monday through Saturday at Willow Street for children in grades 1 through 12, thanks to a new grant it received.
“We hope to make a dent in our waitlist with this,” said Jessica Markelon, Willow Street assistant site director.
To start, 12 tutoring pairs will make up each of the hour-long Saturday sessions. In the near future, the Saturday program will help students from 10 a.m. ‑2 p.m. with a maximum of 18 tutoring pairs per session Markelon said.
Tutors use the computer program Lexia Learning and personalized writing workbooks with the students to work on skills like sounding out words, reading comprehension, and spelling.
The center’s walls covered in handmade art welcomed the children, their families, and the tutors in this Saturday tutoring as the expanded hours began at Willow Street. “Feed the need to read,” read a message on the wall at the front desk where the parents signed their students in and out throughout the day.
The one-on-one tutor sessions are an hour each. The students can attend up to two hours a week.
Jayce Jaynes, 7, paired with tutor RaQuasia Smith, who has volunteered with the program for the past three years. Smith and Jaynes started the morning in Jaynes’ workbook, tracing letters of the alphabet.
As Jayce wrote out the letters B.A.T, he softly read the word “bat” aloud to Smith.
Smith found her place at New Haven Reads in 2017 as an intern while attending the University of New Haven (UNH) for her bachelor’s in criminal justice.
Unsure at first, Smith joined with the program as a tutor because she loved working with kids, though she didn’t think it would develop her career goals in the criminal justice field. It turns out that the work has tied in, Smith said. She is now pursuing her masters in community psychology at UNH to learn about the detriments of illiteracy in youth and adults. Smith volunteers on Thursdays and Saturdays.
As Smith read the book Slam & Dunk Go to the Moon to Jayce, he remained skeptical about lunar possibilities.
“Basketball is not for on the moon,” Jayce pointed out.
Smith aims to build a relationship with each of her students through patience and support.
Sometimes the students can come in unmotivated, tired, or hungry. “You just have to roll with the punches,” she said.
While Smith isn’t tutoring, she works as a developer full-time at the Bridgeport Alternative Incarceration Center.
Leonardo Barbosa with tutor Maria Borges Correia.
New Haven Reads — which is both a book bank and tutoring program — has its original main headquarters on Bristol Street, where the largest collection of books is stored. The Willow Street center too has a dedicated wait room with ceiling-high shelves of books for families to take and build their own at-home library.
“We want to get them excited to read and learn,” Markelon said.
With the help of the new funding from the Seedlings Foundation, 36 – 50 more young people will be supported by New Haven Reads through the expanded Saturday hours, Markelon said.
The program currently is in need of volunteer tutors to meet the community need. Refusing to cancel on some of the student’s Saturday sessions, Markelon called her grandmother on Saturday asking for volunteer help.
Jessica Markelon.
Markelon began working with the program as a volunteer while a junior in high school. When Markelon went on to college she first pursued forensic psychology but switched to developmental psychology.
“It [New Haven Reads] changed the trajectory of my life,” Markelon said.
“These kids are our future so we treat them just like that,” she said.
85 Willow St. is one of four locations, including Dixwell, Science Park, and its main site 45 Bristol Street.
Between all of its locations, New Haven Reads works with more than 500 students a week.
Keyayah Mills with tutor Marissa Harris.
I have been a tutor at New Haven Reads since December. Simply, it it one of the most satisfying things I have ever done.
I encourage everyone who has considered this to become a tutor. There are over 200 kids on the waitlist.