Decatur, GA — The DeKalb County Human Services Department is recruiting volunteers to participate in their tutoring program designed to help DeKalb students improve their reading skills, a press release said.

Informational Sessions will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021, at 10 a.m. and Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, at 7 p.m. via Zoom to provide more information to the public about the program.

There is no cost to participate, however registration is required.

The links for the sessions are as follows:

– Sept. 21, 2021, at 10 a.m., https://bit.ly/aarpec-1

– Sept. 22, 2021, at 7 p.m., https://bit.ly/aarpec-2

The AARP Experience Corps is an evidence-based literacy program that improves the reading skills of children in kindergarten through the third grade for the past two years. The department is working in collaboration with United Way of Greater Atlanta, AARP Foundation and the DeKalb County School District on this initiative. Recent data shows that DeKalb students on average have a reading proficiency of 26 percent, which means that 74 percent of students are reading below grade level.

This tutoring program achieves reading proficiency results focusing on students who are one to two grades behind in reading grade level. The Experience Corps Program is designed to be implemented by volunteers who are 50 years old and older. Volunteers must have a high school diploma or G.E.D to participate. Experience Corps is a national program that has produced positive mental and physical health benefits for the older adult volunteers.

The tutoring program will begin in October 2021 and will follow the school district’s calendar through May 2022. Tutoring sessions will be virtual due to the ongoing pandemic. Participating DeKalb schools include: Stoneview Elementary, Pine Ridge Elementary, Murphy Candler Elementary, E.L. Miller Elementary and Redan Elementary.

To learn more about the program, contact Debra Furtado, human services administrator, by email at [email protected] or by phone at (770) 322-2969.

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