Vivian Freeman-Young

I am a volunteer tutor working with the national nonprofit Reading Partners at the Malcolm C. Hursey Elementary School in Charleston, South Carolina.

The organization partners with under-resourced schools and engages volunteer reading partners like myself to help students who struggle with reading. For 45 minutes, twice a week, I follow the structured lesson plans that Reading Partners has designated for the student I am working with.

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Reading Partners works with schools and communities to unlock the skills of students who struggle with reading. Its evidence-based curriculum, delivered by volunteers from the community, has been found to have positive and statistically significant impact on three different measures of student reading proficiency, reading comprehension, fluency and sight-word reading.
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I was motivated to engage in this work by the fact that I am twice a breast cancer survivor. I wanted to give back to someone needing assistance in reading. I love to read! Reading has taken me to places I wanted to visit, without leaving my home. There are so many things that can be achieved through reading. Reading is power and I see how these children are empowered by it daily, feeling confident and competent. As an ordained minister, it is my Christian duty to give back to society. I have chosen the children.

The principal, teachers and staff are very supportive at Hursey. I hear often from teachers that the students I work with are making progress in their reading. I really enjoy being a part of a program that is making an impact, and Reading Partners is doing just that.

Older workers can use their life experience to steer a child in the right direction. Reading Partners is an excellent way to share the joy literacy can bring to your life.

(Read more about Vivian’s encore here.)