History
Started in 2004 at the request of the Coachella Valley Unified School District Superintendent of Schools, Roberta and Clay Klein started a fund at the Desert Community Foundation and asked the pastor of their church for his assistance in recruiting volunteers. Father Howard Lincoln of Sacred Heart Church readily agreed. The District had been using English speaking volunteers to the extent, they could get them to go into the schools in the district that had no English speaking people in the community. Roberta asked the Superintendent if he would provide buses if they could recruit volunteers who were fluent in English through churches and other organizations.
Read With Me was born and now brings volunteers from seven churches to five different schools. The schools are all in areas of high poverty with a majority of the parents untrained in academic English. They love their children but cannot help them with English.
In 2013, Read With Me received a Golden Bell Award for English Acquisition from the California School Board Association. We believe the program is totally replicable in other areas that face similar challenges in providing tutoring and mentoring for disadvantaged children in a classroom setting.
What we do
In the classroom, the teacher assigns individual volunteers to selected students to listen to them read, assisting them with pronunciation and comprehension. The mentor/tutors are typically retired part-time Coachella Valley residents, some with special skills who help specific students go beyond the basic.
Read With Me
Honored with the Golden Bell award for English Acquisition by the California School Board Association and the 2022 GuideStar Silver Seal of Transparency
Volunteer Programs
Recent News
Opinion: ‘Read with Me’ program making strides in Incline
Incline Elementary School expanded upon our partnership with the Read with Me program in the 2016-2017 school year with a goal of improving our reading outcomes school-wide, as well as improving literacy outcomes among our struggling readers.
​
2017 Read with Me Volunteers Luncheon
​
Volunteers are a valuable commodity to all non-profit organizations. The definition of a volunteer is one who freely offers to take part in an enterprise. These are the true herose of many charities. To honor their volunteer heroes, Read With Me, with the help of luncheon sponsor The Auen Foundation, held its annual tribute luncheon in the packed-to-the-rafters Esmeralda Ballroom at the Renaissance Indian Wells Resort.
Coachella school needs 'Read with Me' volunteers
​
For the past 13 years, Read With Me has helped east valley students improve literacy and English-speaking skills, but leaders of the local nonprofit fear they won’t be able to serve as many children due to loss of transportation and a lack of funding.
Heritage Palms Country Club raises funds for Oasis School
​
The dressed to the nines ladies from Heritage Palm Country Club annually gather at an elegant luncheon and White House Black Market fashion show to raise money for under-privileged children.
Loss of transportation, lack of funding threatens Read With Me
​
For the past 13 years, Read With Me has helped east valley students improve literacy and English-speaking skills, but leaders of the local nonprofit fear they won’t be able to serve as many children due to loss of transportation and a lack of funding.
Volunteers Needed For "Read With Me" Program
COACHELLA, CA. — Valley View Elementary School’s “Read with Me” program urgently needs volunteers to help students improve their reading skills both during the day and twice a week after school.
Bringing a love of reading and the joys of learning to our most disadvantaged you children
​
There is an old saying that sometimes it only takes one or two people to make a difference in our unsteady world - Roberta and Clay Klein are two such people
Angel Light Academy honors Angels on Earth for good deeds
​
More than 200 guests attended the 8th Annual Angel Light Academy’s Above and Beyond Awards Gala at the Indian Wells Golf Resort. They were there to honor 12 community members from local organizations for their excellence in community leadership and service.
Honored by the Angel Light Academy
​
On January 28, 2017, Roberta Klein was honored by the Angel Light Academy with the "Above and Beyond" Award. This program brings over 700 volunteers into East Valley schools to help over 3,400 students with reading and English Language skills. Click below to watch full video.
Washoe school board honors Incline volunteers' reading program
​
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — Walking through Incline Elementary School on any given school day, one may see an adult non-teacher working with a student on his or her English reading and comprehension skills.
Yet ,what’s not visible is the work and dedication put in by part-time Incline Village couple Roberta and Clay Klein to ensure that scene in the school is a reality.
Students learn to read with volunteer help in Coachella
Marley Delgado, a fourth grader at Palm View Elementary, rushed to a table overflowing with books at the school library with a wide smile on her face. Around her, classmates crowded the area, reaching for covers that caught their eye. Some even plopped down on the floor and started reading, their arms filled with books.
Valley Snowbirds Can Help Children Learn English
At this time of year we are fortunate to have a significant increase in population because so many snow birds come for three to six months to enjoy our balmy weather and beautiful landscape.