The below was written for Update by Hilary Gewant. Hilary, a volunteer, is The Birmingham Jewish Federation's "New Partnerships" chair. She and her husband, Scott, another volunteer, who is the BJF's VP for Finance, started the "Fed Up with Illiteracy" program described below.

By Hilary Gewant

"Fed Up with Illiteracy" is one of The Birmingham Jewish Federation's most successful community outreach programs ever. Our volunteer tutors work one-on-one with 1st and 2nd graders to enhance their reading skills. We serve a very diverse group of students at Birmingham's Glen Iris Elementary School and Jefferson County's Grantswood Community School and hope to add more schools as we increase our volunteer numbers. Through this program last year, we helped nearly 60 students improve their reading skills.

Volunteering to tutor a student takes only one hour a week; if a volunteer prefers instead to do it every other week, he or she can be paired with a partner. To volunteer for Fed Up with Illiteracy or for more information, contact Caren Seligman at The BJF, who staffs the program. Caren can be reached at carens@bjf.org or 803-1521. Anyone who is interested is invited to attend a start-up meeting Weds., Sept. 7 at 5:30 pm in the LJCC board room. (Dinner will be served.) Please rsvp to Caren. The program is not just limited to volunteers from our Jewish community; everyone is welcome to participate.

ATTENTION & INTEREST

After just a few months of our involvement with his school this past year, Dr. Mike Wilson, principal of Glen Iris, wrote the following to Caren: "Some individual attention and interest is often what makes a difference. Thanks to you all for what you are doing for my children."

These moving and inspirational words make me proud to be a Fed Up with Illiteracy volunteer. I started tutoring in January of this year and the two Grantswood 2nd graders that I worked with were a delight! They wanted nothing more than for someone to spend a little bit of individual time with them.

The children, their teachers and their reading coach celebrated us at the end of the year with a beautiful breakfast and each volunteer received handwritten notes from "their kids."

For us, these weren't just kids we were reading to each week; they were wonderful youngsters who found a place in our hearts. Wrote one of the students I worked with, "Dear Mrs. Hilary: I loved reading with you this year. Can I still see you this summer? You are my friend. Thank you for reading with me."

One of the teachers, Mrs. Deb Bengtson, sent me the following just after the school year ended: "What a wonderful program you have begun that makes such a difference. Your personal attention to each child is evident to all and has been such a motivation for the children to read more. Thank you to all volunteers, as you have encouraged our childrens' love for reading."

PROGRAM GROWING

Although Fed Up with Illiteracy started a year ago with just a few dedicated volunteers, our program is growing. We have volunteers in every age group. Young people in their 20s have volunteered and one of our most stellar volunteers is Anne Cohn, who is pictured here. Anne, now in her 90s, attended Glen Iris as a young girl. Her involvement in the Glen Iris project has been featured on local TV and in Birmingham magazine.

Marissa Grayson, one of Fed Up with Illiteracy's younger volunteers, said it best when she described one of her early tutoring experiences: "In no way am I trying to claim I taught this student how to read, and I am very realistic about his struggles with reading. But, what he got from today was some confidence. I truly believe that is what we are there to do. We don't need to know every technique to teach reading, we just need to give these kids some attention and help them realize their potential."

As a member of The BJF Board, I am proud to be associated with the Birmingham Jewish Federation and have seen firsthand how The BJF is open to new ideas, willing to take risks, and, in addition to benefiting our Jewish community, wants to do whatever it can to make Birmingham a better place for all its citizens.

We ask everyone who is able please to consider giving some of their time to this endeavor. You won't regret it, I promise! Come to the Weds., Sept. 7th meeting mentioned above. Teaching students to read will open new doors, create a positive message about learning and, hopefully, change their lives forever -- as well as yours!