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
The 2023-24 program year will be marked by changes in RWM’s leadership and board make up with the appointment of a new executive director and new assignments on the Board of Directors.
“I am so happy that Sean Webb, a man with extensive experience as a teacher, principal, and community leader, is our new executive director. The board and I are confident that Sean has the skill sets and experience to lead and grow RWM for many years to come,” said Ms. Klein. (See the announcement of Mr. Webb’s appointment).
Mr. Webb began his tenure on May 15.
His appointment also reflects a new partnership with the Riverside County Office of Education in which Mr. Webb will be an employee of the office and assigned to Read With Me. As part of this partnership, the RCOE will support RWM’s efforts to expand to more and more school districts in the region.
To assure a smooth transition, Ms. Klein will remain as President for the year supported by Horst Engel, vice president, Pat Harris, vice president, Jeannie Morris, treasurer, and Dan Giovannitti, secretary.