After being a full-time Mom, wife and homemaker for twenty years, I found myself widowed and needing an additional focus for my life. I opened a small retail art gallery/gift shop -- Centering! And one thing led to another. I opened a second store -- a women's clothing store -- Tarika. I then combined the two stores and then opened a second Tarika in Sacramento. About five years ago, I closed both stores and organized an upscale consignment shop with a non-profit board to benefit 12 agencies, serving the mental health needs of Yolo County -- All Things Right and Relevant. (So far, over $120,000 has been donated to the 12 non-profits!) After this highly successful store and non-profit board took on a life of its own, I resumed my career as a retail consultant.
In the process, I renewed an acquaintance with Flo Grossenbacher, a 4th grade teacher (a former Tarika customer), whose class subsequently put together a wonderful display window for one of my accounts. Through conversations with Flo, I became aware that she had four children in her class she considered at-risk because they did not read well. She assured me her class was not unique -- that there were many other children, who needed help. I told her I was sure I could find others like myself who could spend a few hours a week tutoring. And thus began Be SMART!
I got training through the American River Literacy Corps in Sacramento and SMART Kids, which has run tutoring programs for over 34 years. I recruited, trained and coordinated 16 tutors to start with, working with 26 children once or twice a week. What had started out as "reading," I expanded to include more writing,, spelling and comprehension.
The program is not only successful, it is growing by leaps and bounds! And it occurred to me that this kind of program could be replicated across the country with adequate tutor training. This home page is a first step toward that goal -- an army of volunteer tutors working with children who have not learned to read in the traditional classroom setting.
Our evaluations show an average of 1.2 grade levels improvement in two and a half months of tutor/mentor activities. The one-to-one experience is motivational as well as instructional. School performance improves. Self-esteem is significantly enhanced. The volunteers all say "This is the most rewarding volunteer work I have ever done."
I recently received wonderful recognition from Yolo County Women in History (although I'm not quite sure I like being thought of as "history" -- I think there's a lot of life in the old girl yet!). I also just received the Greater Sacramento Valley J. C. Penney Golden Rule Award (and a check for $1000 for the Be SMART! program!) for Education. Certainly, all of the Be SMART! volunteers share this honor with me. They are the heart and soul of the program!
If you have questions, comments or suggestions, I'd love to hear from you.