FERGUS – The Learning Disabilities Association of Wellington County’s Reading Rocks programs will be back at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church here on Jan. 20.
The one-on-one literacy program matches volunteer tutors with struggling readers between the ages of 6 and 12, for eight weeks of structured and individualized learning.
In addition to improving reading skills, students have expressed more confidence at school. The program runs on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6 to 7pm.
For more information and an application form visit www.ldawc.ca.
“We are so grateful to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for their generous support of Reading Rocks,” said LDAWC program coordinator, Erika Longman.
“The $166,200 Grow grant has allowed us to offer the program to a wider audience than ever before and we’re able to offer it free of charge, making it truly accessible to everyone who needs it.”
The organization aims to help even more students in 2020, but that is dependant on community support.
“Our goal is to bring more than 70 kids through the program … but we can’t do it alone,” she said. “Because of the program’s one-on-one structure, our success is dependant on the generosity of our community volunteers. The more volunteer tutors we have, the more kids we’ll be able to accommodate.”
There is currently a need for additional volunteers at the Fergus location, as well as in Guelph at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High School. That program runs on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 7:30pm.
Community members over the age of 15 who have a good command of the English language (both oral and written) and can commit to two evenings per week for 16 sessions can fill out a volunteer application at ldawc.ca/volunteer-reading-rocks.html.
