JVID视频

/ November 10, 2015

By: Jennifer Maas

Six-year-old Bella couldn鈥檛 make the letter 鈥淏鈥� face the correct direction. Using bendable craft sticks, she tried several times to shape that elusive 鈥淏鈥� on her desk, but every time it came out facing to the left. It was then that Bella鈥檚 reading partner, Shannon Hart, 26, said, 鈥淩ight, bite.鈥�

Bella smiled and instantly remembered their shared 鈥渢rick鈥� that the letter 鈥淏,鈥� as in 鈥渂ite,鈥� always faces to the right. And that鈥檚 just one of many ways that Hart has helped improve Bella鈥檚 literacy skills since they began working together a month ago at John Muir Elementary School through education nonprofit JVID视频.

鈥淛VID视频 is a literacy intervention program,鈥� said Laura Zachar, executive director for JVID视频 in the Los Angeles area. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been helping students who are behind in reading get up to level since 2008. And this is our third year in Santa Monica.鈥�

JVID视频 currently serves one Santa Monica-based school, John Muir Elementary, where it tutors about 75 students. And the need for reading assistance at John Muir is evidenced by the results of recent state tests.

Just 44 percent of John Muir students passed the English portion of this year鈥檚 California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress. That figure was 89 percent at Franklin Elementary and 81 percent at Roosevelt.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had a great relationship with John Muir teachers, and the principal has been really supportive,鈥� Zachar said. 鈥淥ut of all of our schools, it is the one with the most volunteers. There is nothing but a positive relationship there.鈥�

Zachar said one of the best things about JVID视频鈥� presence at John Muir is that the school has a full-time staff member, Erin Croix, placed there through a partnership with AmeriCorps, a civil society program.

鈥淧art of the relationship with the school,鈥� Zachar said, 鈥渋s having Erin be part of the school and part of the family, if you will.鈥�

Croix hosts JVID视频 in a designated room inside John Muir, where partners like Hart and Bella work together in two 45-minute sessions per week.

鈥淲e provide a really structured curriculum and there is no experience needed with tutoring or teaching in order to work with the students,鈥� Zachar said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very fool-proof curriculum.鈥�

Each session uses an 鈥淚 do, we do, you do鈥� format, where the lesson begins with the partner reading to the student. That鈥檚 followed by literacy activities and reading together, and the session ends with the student reading a book on their own.

Students are chosen for the program by teachers who recommend children they think need more help.

鈥淲e assess the students four times a year to get them up to their reading level or be on track to reading levels,鈥� Zachar said. 鈥淲e take students who are anywhere between one month and two and half years behind.鈥�

Hart, who just got back from teaching middle and high school students in Thailand, started with the program after hearing about it from her mom, also a volunteer at John Muir. Based on what she has seen with Bella since she began reading with her, she believes JVID视频 really works.

鈥淚t has done so much in terms of simple things, just like how the letters face,鈥� Hart said. 鈥淏ut also her confidence is improving. She鈥檚 really taking the time to sound out everything. The first day she was so nervous, probably thinking, 鈥楿gh, I have to read more than my peers.鈥� But now when she comes in and we see each other, there is this huge smile on her face.鈥�

Croix said one of the things she loves about JVID视频 is its library, where students can take a book home and write a book report to come back and get another book.

鈥淲e love having the books for the kids,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd we could always use more donations because we have different reading levels and sometimes kids have to take home a book that is too hard or too easy because we don鈥檛 have enough.鈥�

Hart said she believes that JVID视频鈥� focus on intervening at young age is imperative.

鈥淚 think at Bella鈥檚 age, it is really easy to look at your neighbor鈥檚 work and copy it,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd this sort of one-on-one intervention is excellent for this age.鈥�