Experience Corps Celebrates ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR!

Thank you to the 31 AARP Foundation Experience Corps volunteers who served in 7 schools for the 2024-2025 school year.

One hundred and five students were served in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (7 schools) and the Euclid Schools (2 schools). They meet twice a week for 30 minute sessions, playing games and reading aloud to build their reading and oral expression skills.

What is Experience Corps? It is an evidence-based program where volunteers aged 50+ work one on one with early readers (mostly grades 1-3) focusing on improving their reading and fluency (reading as we speak skills).

Who does Experience Corps help? The program benefits both students and volunteers. Early readers (mostly grades 1-3) are matched with a trained, background checked volunteer in one of our partner schools in the Cleveland or Euclid districts. Students, who are referred to the program by a school staff member, attend their sessions during the school day, mostly in the morning. In the 2024-2025 school year, we served mostly 2nd graders (48% of students) with the balance being mostly 1st graders. Most students in the program are reading below grade level, with most reading at least one year behind grade level.

Volunteers benefit from the program as well, as volunteering has been shown to improve mental and physical health. It also improves social connectedness as you serve on a team of other like-minded volunteers.

What impact does the program have? The program benefits students in a variety of ways.  Students gain reading skills as well as social emotional skills.

Reading Performance improves for many of our students due to the support they receive from their volunteers. End of year survey data showed that: 

• 66% reported overall improvement, average improvement of .5 grades
• 78% reported improvement in at least one of the three reading performance indicators (overall, Fluency & Expression, or Reading Comprehension)
• 92% of students showed improvement in their reading test scores

• Social Emotional Skills improvements (such as classroom participation, motivation to learn; concentration and self-confidence)  were seen by 73% of students.

What do teachers say about Experience Corps?

Overwhelmingly, teachers see the impact that the program and the volunteers have on the educational and social development of students. 78% of teachers reported that the volunteers had a strong influence on the reading of the student, with 84% noting a strong influence on the social emotional skills development. Teachers have commented:

• Ms. Chris is a great tutor. She gets to know the students and brings in books that they are interested in. She is great with communicating with me. I love having her on my team.
• The one-on-one time was very beneficial for [the student]. 
• [My student] really struggles with focusing, so being able to regularly work with a tutor one on one helped her grow a lot this year in her reading fluency.
• [My student] moved from Well Below Average in the fall to On Track in the spring. He grew so much this year, and his tutor was a big part of that!
• This was very helpful to help [my student] grow to be a more confident and fluent reader

How can you join the Experience Corps team of volunteers? Are you ready to make an impact on a young reader? We are seeking additional volunteers to join the team for the 2025-2026 school year. Volunteers, aged 50+ receive pre-service and ongoing training and support; engage with early readers for twice-a-week sessions from October-May and form a mentoring relationship with students.  You read to, and with, students as well as playing a variety of reading games. No prior experience is needed, other than a willingness to learn/use technology and a passion in helping children succeed.  All are welcome. A small allowance may be available for eligible volunteers.

To learn more, contact us at contact@greaterclevelandvolunteers.org or complete the inquiry form at: tinyurl.com/ECCleveland