ABQ Reads hosts end-of-year celebrations for students

May 8—During her teaching career, Carol Barnitz saw firsthand how much of an impact reading can have on a student .

"I taught high school PE for 27 years, and I was heartbroken at the number of kids who could not read," Barnitz recalled. "One of those kids that could not read or write ended up in all kinds of trouble, didn't graduate and was one of the perpetrators in a very serious crime."

Barnitz said the student's story stuck with her and after her retirement from teaching in 2013, she decided to help young children learn how to read, .

Barnitz then needed an organization that would allow her to connect with students. She remembered cutting an article out of a newspaper a year earlier about an organization called "ABQ Reads." She found the newspaper clipping and signed up for the organization .

Thus began a 11-year tutoring venture with ABQ Reads. In that time, Barnitz said she's kept a journal in which she tracks the process of each student she's tutored.

"I have quite a few pages, and it's fun to look back on the kids who struggled at first but then became really good readers or kids who came in really strong (readers) and got even better. It's so rewarding to see their process from beginning of the year to the end," she said.

Launched in 2003, ABQ Reads is a partnership between the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce and Albuquerque Public Schools, with the goal to boost literacy achievement and proficiency among struggling young readers .

The first tutors began working with students at Bel Air Elementary School in northeast Albuquerque in 2003. Since then, the program has expanded to Whittier and Atrisco elementary schools. Tutors meet with kindergarten and first grade students once a week for a 90-minute, one-on-one tutoring session. The sessions focus on growing the student's ability to read, write and develop social skills.

Currently, ABQ Reads has more than 300 volunteers who provide over 7,000 hours of tutoring to hundreds of students annually . During the school year, the students also receive roughly 20 free books to help build their own personal libraries.

In celebration of all the hard work the students and tutors put in this past school year, ABQ Reads hosted end-of-year celebrations at Whittier Elementary on April 30, Bel Air on May 1 and Atrisco on May 2. At each of the celebrations, family and tutors joined students and listened to officials with ABQ Reads and APS speak about the importance of reading as a lifelong skill that will positively impact them.

Students also performed for their guests by singing songs and reading aloud . After the performances, students joined their families and tutors for a celebration meal of chicken nuggets, fruit salad and a juice. The kids also received a bag of books to read over the summer.

Among those attending the celebrations was a district Title I resource teacher, who supports the ABQ Reads program. Title I is a federal assistance program that ensures that all children have significant opportunities to obtain a high-quality education. Beverly Martinez was a member of the development team that helped launch the initial tutoring program at Bel Air in 2003.

"Seeing (children's) successes and going into a ABQ Reads tutoring session and seeing the enthusiasm that they have working one on one with their tutors is very satisfying," Martinez said. "The mentorship between a student and the tutor is extremely important."

Perhaps no one knows how important that tutor-student relationship is more than Christina Jay, who has been a tutor for ABQ Reads for the past 19 years. Jay said that as a child, she always had a love of reading. Growing up with older siblings, she would often read the books they brought home and frequented the library as well.

"I still go to the library now," she said. "I think (reading) allows everybody the opportunity to expand their knowledge."

So when she learned that the company she worked for was sponsoring ABQ Reads, she jumped at the opportunity to help kids find the same love of reading . When asked what keeps her coming back, Jay's answer was simple.

"The students I've met over the course of my years tutoring, I just love them," she said. "I run into them at different points in their lives at grocery stores, restaurants and get to see the amazing things they've done as they've grown up and what the program has done for them."