Cover story: Volunteers support students 'where they are'

In 2002, after a community needs assessment, a group of volunteers from the Mid-Peninsula founded Los Ayudantes (the helpers, a group named by the students we serve). We were well aware of the great discrepancies between the first-rate educations our children received in Menlo Park and Palo Alto schools as compared with the educations of our neighbors--in this case the North Fair Oaks neighborhood of Redwood City, which, according to US Census data, is the poorest neighborhood in the Mid-Peninsula. The mission of Los Ayudantes is Literacy for Life, a mission which acknowledges that reading, writing, and speaking the English language are critical skills for high school graduation, career opportunities, and life competency. Volunteers run after school book clubs for fourth and fifth graders at Fair Oaks School and serve as in-class tutors and classroom assistants at McKinley Middle School (MIT), both in Redwood City. The volunteers at MIT are also assisting in a new program, an all school, all student one hour each day reading program at MIT. Like All Students Matter, Los Ayudantes volunteers receive as much as they give--the rewards at seeing students gain competency are tangible and greatly fulfilling. To volunteer, check our website losayudantes.org

Speaking from personal experience as a Los Ayundantes tutor at McKinley Middle School, if you want to do something where you know you're having a positive impact -- tutoring is at the top of the list.