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Learning
Leaders, Leading Learners |
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Learning Leaders broke
new ground in 1956, becoming the country’s
first volunteer-based organization dedicated
to serving public-school children. Currently,
it works with a base of almost 15,000
volunteers, reaching out to over 219,000
students in 937 New York City public schools.
According to the organization’s website, its
goal is “to help New York City public school
students succeed by training volunteers to
provide tutoring and other school-based
support, and by equipping parents to foster
their own children’s educational development.” |
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New
York City Schools Chancellor Joel
Klein, Learning Leaders President
Digna Sanchez, Time Inc. CEO Ann
Moore, and Colgate Palmolive CEO
Reuben Mark at Celebrity Read Aloud
2005 |
Children
browse through books at a Learning
Leaders fair.
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At the head of the organization is a leader herself,
Digna Sanchez, president and executive director. In
her vision, Learning Leaders will reach even further.
“I see the volunteer program expanding to other
schools,” says Sanchez. “My goal has and will always
be to help those children in the New York City
region to succeed in their educational career.”
Learning Leaders, formerly the New York City School
Volunteer Program, has served as a model for school
volunteer programs nationwide, training volunteers
and parents to provide instructional support and
other enrichment services to New York City public
school students. The organization seeks to help
students gain the educational skills and self-esteem
they need to become successful learners and
productive community members.
Sanchez, a native of Puerto Rico and a graduate of
the New York public school system herself, assumed
her current role at Learning Leaders in 2003. A
graduate of New York City’s Hunter College, Sanchez
brings 30 years of experience in the fields of
education and social service. Prior posts include
vice president for Educational Services at the
United Way of New York City and senior policy
analyst for education to then-Manhattan Borough
President Ruth Messinger. Since joining the Learning
Leaders team, Sanchez has been at the forefront of
reorganizing Learning Leaders’ education system and
encouraging parental involvement.
At the heart of Learning Leaders’ work is a strong—and
growing—volunteer network; 75 percent of Learning
Leaders volunteers are parents. After they become
Learning Leaders volunteers, parents spend, on
average, 27 percent more time reading with their
children and 22 percent more time helping their
children with homework. “Parental involvement is
extremely important, and it is the most valuable
aspect of the program,” Sanchez says.
Parent volunteers typically remain involved in the
program for three or four years and sometimes much
longer. “The key to Learning Leaders’ successful
tutoring program is the enablement of parents to…become
better supporters of their children’s education,”
says Sanchez.
According to Sanchez, Learning Leaders volunteers
are trained to work with students in kindergarten
through high school in a variety of subjects,
including math, science, English, and English as a
Second Language. To address the needs of older
students, Learning Leaders volunteers also tutor
students to prepare for critical examinations and
assist with college planning and preparation.
Learning Leaders also offers programs designed to
meet students’ special needs and interests, such as
its Art Works and College Planning programs. The Art
Works program introduces third grade students to art
appreciation and comprehension through classroom
activities and field trips to the Metropolitan
Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The
College Planning program focuses on the college
application process, assisting high school students
in various areas of the process, including writing
college application essays and applying for
financial aid.
In addition, Learning Leaders offers the Children’s
Reading Enrichment Project, which turns children on
to reading with read-aloud sessions and story-telling
activities. The project also includes a component
that sends children’s books authors and illustrators
into New York City’s poorest neighborhoods to
participate in in-class discussions of their books
and encourage a love of reading in students in first
through sixth grade.
Related to that program is the Celebrity Read Aloud
event, which has featured such stars as Jimmy Smits,
Jon Stewart and Sarah Jessica Parker. In 2005, 1,000
fourth graders attended the event to hear Ben
Stiller, Sesame Street’s Alison Bartlett, and others
read from books that dealt with the theme of
generosity.
Another important aspect of Learning Leaders, says
Sanchez, is its outreach to Spanish-speaking parents
and children in the New York City region. Language
barriers can too easily deter parents and teachers
from becoming as involved as possible in students’
education; Learning Leaders aims to eliminate those
barriers.
According to Sanchez, Hispanics not only constitute
the largest single ethnic group in the New York City
region—they also make up a large portion of Learning
Leaders’ volunteer base. In fact, she says, “the
percentage of the total Hispanic volunteers is even
greater than the equivalent of the Hispanic student
percentage in the school system.”
When they initially become involved with Learning
Leaders, Spanish-speaking parent volunteers tend to
report spending less time reading and doing homework
with their children than English-speaking parent
volunteers, but once parents become involved in the
volunteer program, the amount of time Spanish-speaking
parents spend with their children experiences a
great increase, and the two groups report spending
approximately the same amount of time on homework
and reading with their children.
Sanchez is proud of Learning Leaders’ success in its
outreach to New York City parents and students. And
as a Latina, she is especially proud to be able to
serve the Spanish-speaking community. “I feel
privileged having been educated in the New York
public school system and being in this position
where I am today,” Sanchez says. “I am honored to be
giving back to the community in such a positive way.” |
