The Sacred Heart Read With Me Ministry Reading Program

MECCA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL READ WITH ME MINISTRY                          
MISSION STATEMENT

To provide assistance to children in the poorest geographic area of the desert so that they may learn how to read, comprehend and speak English and know that people care about them as individuals.

WHAT WE DO

English speaking volunteers of all faiths commit one half day a week to go to Mecca Elementary School to help children who live in homes where the primary language spoken is Spanish. The parents are from Mexico and work long hours in the fields and service industries.   The parents speak little or no English but they want their children to learn. We volunteer in individual classrooms to carry out whatever assignment the teacher gives us.  The teacher may want an individual volunteer to work with a specific child who will read to the volunteer who then helps the child with pronunciation and comprehension, or the teacher may ask the volunteer to help a small group (four or five) children with their lesson plan, essentially doing the same thing assisting with reading, comprehension and pronunciation and of course complimenting the child for good work..
Children who have been here for only a short time struggle with English.  Those who have been here for some time may be able to sight read and pronounce the words but they often do not know the meaning or significance of what they have read.  You as an English speaking mentor  help them understand what they have read by asking  questions about what happened in that story or assignment.  The emphasis is on learning to read, speak and understand English.  You are the English speaking role model.


HOW OFTEN DO WE GO TO THE SCHOOL

It is ideal if you can volunteer once a week in the same classroom and work with the same children.  The children need consistency and glow from the attention of the volunteers. (A number of volunteers go more than once a week)

We all have things that arise in a given week, so if you are not able to go on your regular day or days just communicate with your teacher.   Your boss is the teacher.  Just tell the teacher the days you are unable to attend and she or he will adjust.  There are at least 20 children in each class (other than special ed) and your help is greatly valued by the teacher, the principal and the school district superintendent.

However there is such a need for English Speaking role models that you can be utilized even if you can only go once a month or for just a few weeks.


HOW DO WE GET THERE

The Superintendent of Schools of the Coachella Valley Unified School District, places high value on having English speaking volunteers in the classrooms. It has been demonstrated  by increasing test scores how effective they are in helping the children become more fluent in English  The school district provides the bus, fuel and insurance.  A group of individual donors make a grant through the Desert Community Foundation of $15,000 to the school district to pay the drivers.  .  The bus and driver are at Sacred Heart every school day Monday through Friday  at 8:10 am to pick up the volunteers who are interdenominational and from all over the  desert.  We sign each volunteer in at the bus each day.  The bus arrives at 8:10 am and leaves promptly at 8:20 am and gets to the school at approximately 9:00 am.  If you take the bus you will be picked up at the school between 11:00 and 11:15 am and returned to the church parking lot before noon.

Some people drive themselves or car pool because they want to stay longer.  We will give   you   a map if you would like to do that.  If you drive please go into the office each day and sign in.  The school needs to know the names of everyone on the school campus.
Those who take the bus are signed in at the bus and can go directly to the classroom.


HOW DO I GET INVOLVED

Just come to the church between 8:10 am and 8:20 am, on the day of the week you would like to volunteer,   sign in, get on the bus and go to the school. 

IS THERE A GROUP ORIENTATION MEETING

During the first week November 2 – 6 there will be a group orientation meeting each day in the school cafeteria for new volunteers.  Experienced volunteers will go to the cafeteria to register and get classroom assignments. Mrs. Silvestri the school principal will bring us up to date on the new improvements at school and will answer questions.  Experienced volunteers can then go to directly to their assigned classrooms.  New volunteers will receive a formal orientation, decide how often they want to go and on what days, get an assignment and then go to their assigned classrooms for a brief time on their first day.  .   If you cannot go the week of Nov 2-6, then on your first day as a volunteer this year go to the office, indicate whether you have volunteered before, after filling out the paper work if you have volunteered in the past you will be assigned to a classroom and can go directly there.  If you are a first time volunteer you will register and receive an individual orientation and then be assigned to a classroom based on your preference of day you wish to volunteer and grade level you would prefer to be involved with.  There will be a second series of Group Orientation January 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23.




GETTING TO KNOW YOUR TEACHER

On your first day this year, please introduce yourself to the teacher and tell him or her how often you will be coming.  Give the teacher your phone number or email address and ask for theirs.  Ask what specific task they want you to do.  It is difficult to chat in class so you may want to communicate by phone or email if you have other questions.

If you are not happy about the dynamics between yourself and the teacher or the students
go to the  office and ask Ms Gomez  for reassignment to a different classroom.  It is very important to the success of the program that this experience be beneficial to the children and that you individually have a meaningful experience.

DO WE HAVE IDENTIFICATION TAGS

After you register to volunteer for the current year an identification tag will be prepared for you.  Please go to the office the following week after you register to pick up your tag if you do not already have one.  The school office is the centralized source for the tags


WHEN DOES THE PROGRAM START AND STOP

Volunteers who drive can start as early as mid September and continue until the school year is over in early June.  The bus transportation in 2009--2010 will be available from November 2 until the end of April; for every day that school is in session .We will probably also have the bus two days a week in May.

HOW MANY SCHOOLS DO WE DO THIS FOR

We still don’t have full coverage for one school so we at Sacred Heart are focusing on Mecca Elementary School.   St Francis in La Quinta started the same program with volunteers going from their location to Las Palmitas School in Thermal which has the same demographics of student population as Mecca Elementary.

HOW MANY VOLUNTEERS DO WE NEED

Ideally we would like to have at least one volunteer for each class room each day of the week.  There are over 40 classrooms and some do not have volunteers.  In some classes we can use more than one volunteer per class because some children need more help.

HOW DO WE KNOW ABOUT SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

When you register to volunteer you will receive an information kit which will have the school address, telephone numbers, and the lay out of the classrooms, the teacher’s names and a calendar of the school year with all school holidays listed.  If your regular volunteer day falls on a holiday and you want to go out that week anyway just tell your teacher you would like to help on a different day. Note that most school holidays occur on Monday.