Who Are Our Volunteers?
LCGW volunteers come from every imaginable background and age group. We are always looking to expand our volunteer base in order to satisfy the great need for literacy services in Waukesha county.
Most of our volunteers are literacy tutors, working one-on-one with an assigned student for a minimum of 1 hour per week. No special educational background or experience is required to become a tutor. We do, however, offer tutor training sessions through the year.
The LCGW holds informational orientations one or more times each month, where we discuss the tutoring program and other opportunities to individuals interested in volunteering.
What Kinds of Tutoring Opportunities Are Available?
Reading
- A reading student is a person older than five, who is interested in learning to read or to improve his or her reading skills.
- The tutor and student meet at least once per week for an hour at a local library, school, or public building.
- The student may be a low-level reader, reading at less than a 4th grade level, or a higher level reader.
- In addition to improving reading skills, the student may also wish to improve his or her spelling, grammar or writing skills.
GED
- A GED student is a person who did not graduate from high school and would now like to get his or her General Equivalency Degree (GED) or High School Equivalency Degree (HSED).
- The tutor and student meet at least once per week for an hour at a local library, school, or public building to help the student study for the GED or HSED exam.
Math
- A math student is a person, older than age five, who is interested in improving his or her math skills.
- Most students need help learning to either add, subtract, multiply, and/or divide.
- The tutor and student meet at least once per week for
an hour at a local library, school, or public building.
ESL
- An English as a Second Language (ESL) student is from another country who is interested in improving his or her English speaking, reading, or writing skills.
- About half of the students served through the Literacy Council of Greater Waukesha are ESL students.
- The tutor and student meet at least once per week for an hour at a local library, school, or public building.
- In some situations, tutoring may occur in the home, because an ESL student does not have transportation to the library and/or may have difficulty securing childcare.
Nurturing Young Readers
- Nurturing Young Readers (NYR) functions as a family literacy program and includes work with a child and the child’s parents.
- The goal is to help the child improve his or her skills while also enhancing the educational environment in the
home.
Jail Tutoring
- The tutor meets with an incarcerated student who is interested in improving his or her basic skills and/or English.
- Class times are scheduled jointly by the Waukesha County Jail and WCTC.
