skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Seniors Help Arizona Kids Struggling To Read

play audio
Play

Wednesday, August 20, 2014   

PHOENIX - Hundreds of school children in Phoenix who may be struggling with reading are getting some help from some older Arizonans giving back to the community.

The AARP Experience Corps program is starting at 10 elementary schools in five districts. Tim Valencia, youth and education manager for the city of Phoenix, said the volunteer tutors will work with students who are having trouble reading at their grade level.

"In 2010, the state passed a law called 'Move on When Ready.' And if third-graders are not reading at grade level by the third grade, they can be retained," Valencia said. "And so, we want to help our school districts as much as we can to minimize the amount of students that are being retained."

Valencia said Experience Corps is expanding into Phoenix after several successful years working with kids in Tempe schools. It's a nationally recognized program that operates in more than 20 U.S. cities, he said. This school year, he said, the goal in Arizona is to help up to 600 students improve their reading skills to grade level. The focus is on younger readers, up to third grade.

Cynthia Fagyas, communications director for AARP Arizona, cited an ongoing need for volunteers who can work at least five hours a week with students in the Wilson, Riverside, Tolleson, Fowler and Phoenix Elementary school districts. She said research shows that children who go through the program show marked improvement in their reading ability.

"It's really an excellent win-win," she said, "for both volunteers who are so rewarded by the experience and the children, who actually find that they can read much, much better after being tutored through the program."

She said people interested in volunteering must have a high school diploma and agree to a criminal background and reference check.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Corporate partners sign contracts to offer a graduate assistantship and pay the students. In turn, MSU pays the graduate assistant's tuition, fees and salary, so the assistantship is directly tied to the academic experience. (pressmaster/Adobe Stock)

play sound

By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi for Missouri News Service reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Col…


Social Issues

play sound

A new report brands Connecticut's tax system as "regressive" for low- to middle-income residents and uses a report from the state to make its point…

Environment

play sound

Backers of a new federal rule said it will increase fairness for livestock and poultry producers, in North Carolina and across the country. The U.S…


A study by the advocacy group Inseparable showed one in five adults said at any given time, they consider their mental health to be either 'fair' or 'poor.' (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Mental health care advocates are encouraging federal agencies to adopt a proposed update to regulations which would expand access to psychological car…

Social Issues

play sound

With hotter summers bringing hotter working conditions, the Maryland Department of Labor is implementing a heat stress standard to protect workers …

Social Issues

play sound

By Jimmy Cloutier for OpenSecrets.Broadcast version by Roz Brown for Texas News Service reporting for the OpenSecrets-Public News Service Collaboratio…

Environment

play sound

Recreational fishermen in New England say commercial trawlers are threatening the survival of smaller businesses relying on a healthy stock of Atlanti…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021