For the last 5 years, once a week I have participated in a mentor reading program at a local school. This has turned out to be a personally rewarding event , so the 30 minutes a week seems like the least I can do to help make a difference in a child's education. Many of these kids are from lower economic levels and many are from broken homes. The combination of the two is quite common also. And to top things off sometimes just when it seems I have made progress with a kid I discover he or she has moved. Often times the move is a result of being evicted or other family crisis. Naturally I can't get involved there, but I still wonder if the student will continue to read and progress.....or will they digress? Usually I will never know.

But for the most part the kids I have had the good fortune of working with do well ,and it is indescribably rewarding to have a student come into a semester with a chip on his shoulder , mumbling when spoken too and fighting you the whole way ...and then a few months later running into class wondering what took you, the mentor, so long to get there. And by the end of the semester they are reading fairly well and with a big smile on their face.

So why is something so positive like this such a challenge?  Because every now and then a student comes along that you just know is going to sink. I then tell myself that all my other problems at work or in life, don't hold a candle to the difference a little patience and perseverance can make with that kid. I can't throw up my hands and walk away.

So every time I even think about not showing up for that 30 minute a week visit I consider the consequence .  So I think I will go another year helping young minds hold on to hope with the power of reading.