A learning oasis: how tutors are helping students find their inner confidence

One child, one reading mentor, meeting for a one-hour learning session, once a week. It sounds simple, but to both the student and the mentor can have lasting effects.

That is the goal of Albuquerque Oasis’ Intergenerational Tutoring Program. Started in 1990, the program pairs unpaid Oasis tutors with students who are behind their classmates in reading and writing comprehension skills.

“The idea is to meet the students where they are and get (them) excited about reading,” Vicki DeVinge, Oasis tutoring program director, said.

The program has about 330 tutors working with elementary school students in 55 schools across Albuquerque, Belen and Bernalillo. DeVinge said the program’s tutors include former educators, doctors, scientists and engineers.

Oasis tutor Mary Mandeville said interaction with students is her favorite part of being an Oasis tutor.

“Seeing those kids every day, I get so much more from them than they’ll ever get from me. It’s very rewarding,” she said.

A speech therapist, Mandeville said looking for a way to remain “useful” in retirement. That’s when she stumbled upon Oasis and the intergenerational tutoring program.

“I love books, I love kids, and I saw this opportunity and I thought this sounds great,” she said.

The process of volunteering to become a tutor begins with a conversation with DeVinge about the program. “I want to get to know you, I want to understand what your motivation is? Why do you choose to volunteer?” she asks.

After this conversation, the individual then undergoes a day of training during which they are taught about Oasis’ six-step literacy program, which is focused how to talk, read, write, and teach vocabulary to a elementary school student. Perspective volunteers also undergo a FBI background check, paid for by Oasis.

The six-step program is used as the foundation for how tutors build session plans for their students. Tutors also use tools like journals, or “words I know” booklets to help students with reading, writing, and word comprehension.

Students are selected to work with Oasis tutors on a referral basis by their teachers, DeVinge said. After the student and the tutor are paired, the first few sessions together are designed to be more conversational and less about reading and writing. These conversations allow the tutor to learn more about the students, their interests, and their learning style.

“Education is designed for all of us to be on one track. We’re supposed to learn certain things in each subject,” DeVinge said. “But we don’t learn the same way, so tutors design session plans based off of that student to get them excited about reading.”

Jan Bandrofchak, who’s been tutoring with Oasis for the past seven years, said the student she is working with this year is very interested in books that either rhyme or are about animals. Past students have had varied interests.

“They want princess stories or they want adventure. One little girl wanted to learn about being a detective,” Bandrofchak said.

After learning what interests their students, tutors can then choose from the 8,300 books in Oasis’ library, located at their Albuquerque Oasis Institute, 3301 Menaul NE.

The institute also doubles as one of the tutoring program’s source of funding. The income generated from paid classes it offers to adults is used subsidize part of the cost of training and background checks for volunteers.

DeVinge said grants the program writes also help fund the tutoring program.

To help measure the impact the reading sessions have on students, for the first time this year, Oasis will analyze data from students’ i-Ready and Istation test scores from the beginning and end of the school year.

DeVinge explained that Oasis has partnered with a statistician from APS and will send out a Google Doc to teachers with students in the program, asking them to fill out the students’ reading test score from the first round of testing in September and the final round of testing in May.

That data will then be compiled to give a visual representation of the growth students are experiencing in reading comprehension. But in the bigger picture, DeVinge is hopeful the work of Oasis’ volunteers will leave a deeper impression that will positively impact all aspects of their lives.

Learning oasis in pictures

“If you’re a confident student, if you’re a confident reader, it spreads through all of your academia. That is very powerful,” she said.