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
RWM’s Special Assistance funds are the result of two generous gifts from people who recognized our close connection to the poorer families in the Coachella Valley. Both gifts specified that the funds should provide direct help to families.
RWM designed the fund to act as a bridge so families facing severe financial issues can get back on their feet and/or can access other available means of support. In addition, the fund can help students take advantage of a unique educational opportunity.Â
Following is a partial list of grants:
Palm View Elementary School, Faith Zapata earned a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, a national recognition of special student. While many of the expenses were paid by the Spelling Bee organization, RWM and Palm View teachers worked together to cover the out-of-pocket cost of taking part in the competition. We are proud of Faith and RWM Volunteer Charmaine for this wonderful achievement. Â A first for one for a Read with Me student and tutor!Â
A teenage girl was homeless and couldn’t afford to finish high school. One of our staff who knew her brought her into their own home. We arranged for a counselor and provided funds for her books, clothes, and an iPad. She is now attending Cosmetology School on a scholarship.Â
A fifth-grade girl died of an inoperable heart malfunction and the family was unable to afford burial expenses. We were able to work with another foundation to negotiate and pay the expenses.
On two occasions, the fathers and breadwinners died unexpectedly leaving their wives and children unable to pay rent and utility bills. We covered these expenses to give the families time to get back on their feet.Â
A mother who could not find work had to move to Irvine to earn the money needed to support her family, leaving her 20-year-old daughter to take care of the younger children. We paid the landlord her rental payments to keep the family from being evicted.
Throughout the fund’s short experience, teachers and administrators at the elementary schools we serve have identified the children and families in need and we appreciate their contributions.