THE FIRST READING COACH PROGRAM at Robison Elementary School was established by members of this Rotary Club 29 years ago. Steve Brody learned of such a service project while visiting a Rotary club in the Midwest and fellow member George Garcia, TUSD Superintendent advised that Robison had the lowest reading scores in the city. Bob Colbert organized and implemented the program at Robison which is on 18th Street just west of Reid Park. Three years later, Robison reading scores were at middle level and showed the highest percentage increase in improvement.Rotary Club of Tucson became the major sponsor of Reading Seed, a children’s literacy project in 2006 and our Reading Coaches became mentors within Reading Seed. Schools closed during Covid. After the time of virus, Jon Wang, 40-year member and a Reading Coach, repeatedly asked Reading Seed to resume at Robison, but administrators declined. Knowing that this Club had led the way in 1994, Jon believed we could do it again.
We now have nine of our Members signed up to be Reading Coaches! The Principal at Robison is very enthusiastic and supportive of our proposal. A Coach will spend 30 minutes with each of two students from 2nd or 3rd Grade once a week. First objective is to express interest in the child, be supportive of their worth and their progress as a student, and help them develop enthusiasm for the benefits of reading. We will help them explore interests of their own through books of their choosing. Experience has shown the rewards are not only for the child, but for the adult as well!
