LARRY ANDOW HAS retired from corporate finance and working with major banks all over the United States.
He has two grown children working in tech in New York City; one formerly did search analysis for Google, the other did AI research for Meta.
But these days, 70-year-old Andow discusses the characteristics of elephants, snow leopards, camels, and zebras with a second grader, in between high-fives for figuring out the difference between “there,” “their,” and “they’re.” There’s also some growling and other animal noises and immediate laughter coming from the conversation.
Andow is part of the AARP Foundation Experience Corps, for which he tutors children at San Pedro Elementary School in San Rafael. The program pairs people over 50 and typically retired with younger students who need to catch up on reading. Tutors typically spend two 30-minute sessions with students per week and are trained by AARP.
Andow works with two boys. Six tutors are working with kids in the same hallway, others from AARP and some from another program.
It seems like the school is in a hurry to catch the children up with their peers.
“My kids were raised here in this area; we’ve been here for years, and I feel like I should give back to the community,” Andow said, before he sat down with Efrain Mazariegos Monzon at a table in a hallway outside the classroom.
“This is just one of the ways that we can do that, and particularly here, this school, where you’ve got a lot of immigrants,” Andow said. “Kids who haven’t had the same advantages that we might have. It’s important to give them that step up.”
Helping struggling young readers to improve
Launched in 2007, the experience corps is a volunteer-based tutoring program meant to catch up children in first through third grade who are behind in reading. The program, so far, operates in 15 schools in Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties.
During the 2022-23 school year, the nationwide program gave sustained, one-on-one tutoring to 326 students, from 141 tutors, for 5,098 hours of reading time, according to the program. There were 163 volunteers donating 8,293 hours of their time.
The experience corps said school staff reported that 100 percent of students tutored improved their socio-emotional skills and overall behavior; 98 percent improved oral fluency skills, and 97 percent improved critical thinking and overall reading ability.
There are 22 tutors working with students at San Pedro and 65 in 14 Bay Area schools.
“What they’re reading is basically below grade level, so the object is to try to bring them up to grade level so they can go into third grade with that reading proficiency,” Andow said. “Because after third grade, reading is not taught as a subject. After third grade, reading is applied to the various subjects so as they go through history or English, it’s all fine.”
“Some kids go way past being caught up. There’s repetition and games; they have fun. Then, suddenly, they’re like ‘Oh, I know that.’ They’re not struggling anymore.”
Sandra Strang, Experience Corps Bay Area director
“Getting them to read at grade level by the end of grade three is really critical to them being able to then utilize that to be successful with the rest of their subjects,” he said.
When students can finish a book with five or fewer errors, they get to keep the book. Most of the students in the program at San Pedro are Central American immigrants.
Sandra Strang, the director of Experience Corps Bay Area, said the program targets immigrants. Many of those being tutored speak Spanish at home.
“The whole idea of the program is to have kids reading fluently, to read like they speak by the end of third grade,” Strang said. “All the research has showed that, if by the end of fourth grade they’re not reading, the drop-out rate is significantly higher.”
“We target schools with immigrants,” Strang said. “We’re supporting where we’re needed most.” The program provides the books as part of a standard curriculum. Once the school tests students to determine their reading level, those needing help get a set of Reading A to Z books from AARP.
“We start that child with their comfort level and then take them further as they go, so they feel successful right out of the gate,” Strang said. “Then we’ll build on that.”
Making significant progress
Strang said 65 percent of kids in the program make more than a year’s growth. Most start a half year to a year-and-a-half behind.
It’s significant,” said Strang, a former special education teacher, sixth-grade teacher and education advocate. “They’re caught up. Some kids go way past being caught up. There’s repetition and games; they have fun. Then, suddenly, they’re like ‘Oh, I know that.’ They’re not struggling anymore.”
Donna Helman is the program’s school site coordinator for three schools, including San Pedro. She said, even though the school already has 22 tutors, “we could probably use 10 more.”
“I think parents are always thrilled to hear their students are reading with someone,” Helman said. “They’re very supportive.”
“It feels great to watch these kids progress. This is the best job, because it’s a win-win for everyone.” Strang said the program is as good for the older volunteers as it is for students.
“So many tutors say, ‘I get way more out of this than I think my kids do,’” Strang said. “There’s still so much power there. We don’t value our older adults the way we should.”