By Sylvia Rainey, 2020-2021 Literacy First Tutor The most gratifying statement I heard all year was from one of my second-grade students. “I finally got the hang of reading!” he announced proudly. This is a student who had started the school year struggling to read at 22 words-per-minute, and now he is able to read. […]
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Blog
My Experience with Literacy First and Mindful AISD
Celeste discusses her experience serving remotely, both as a tutor and in her partnership creating mindfulness videos for AISD students.
Read MoreLearning I Want to Become a Teacher
By Celeste Tovar, 2020-2021 Literacy First Tutor My favorite aspect of my service experience has been learning how to tutor and teach from trained and experienced educators. This experience awakened something in me that made me realize I want to pursue a career in education and that I am capable of doing so. Before serving, […]
Read MoreIt All Adds Up
Serving as a middle school mathematics tutor, a soon-to-be Literacy First tutor witnesses firsthand the connection between literacy and academic success.
Read MoreWords of Encouragement to Future Students
A Literacy First AmeriCorps tutor shares encouraging words for her students about to begin their reading journeys.
Read MoreWhat National Service Means to Me
By Josi Carder, 2019-2020 Literacy First Tutor AmeriCorps has forever shifted my perception on work. In high school and college, you learn that the virtues of the workforce inculcate a sense that hard work is to be a direct exchange of monetary value. We work so that we can make enough money to live a […]
Read MoreA Community that Cares
By Britanny Barcliff, 2019-2020 Literacy First Tutor I have been working alongside Austin Voices for Education and Youth for the past year and a half, as I started volunteering with them for my community partnership as a Literacy First tutor. I have been able to help as they unloaded trucks full of food pallets from […]
Read MoreAlumni Spotlight: Johnathan Salinas
Johnathan Salinas was studying Music Performance at Texas State before joining Literacy First. He’s now a first-grade teacher. In this Alumni Q&A, he talks about how the program gave him the “strong foundation” he needed to begin a career in education. What were you doing before joining Literacy First?Before joining Literacy First, I was finishing […]
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We Call Them AmeriCorps Members
In recent news, there’s been a lot of talk about what “national service” means. National service programs like AmeriCorps are part of the Corporation for National and Community Service , which is currently in the spotlight as the federal budget reaches its April 28 announcement date. At Literacy First, we see the impact of national […]
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Protecting Her Literacy Legacy: Alumni Amy Akiyama Gives Back
When she was a tutor, Amy Akiyama’s favorite children to work with were the most challenging students. “Those kids took extra effort to work with,” she remembers, “but in the end…I’ll never forget them.” She loved the challenge of communicating difficult reading concepts to children who were dealing with the learning disadvantages of living in […]
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