ROHNERT PARK - Sonoma State University (SSU) has been awarded more than $500,000 for an exciting new service-learning program, Project SCHOLARS, announced Robert Karlsrud, dean of the School of Social Sciences and Phylllis Fernlund, dean of the School of Education. The project places university students in community elementary schools as reading tutors for children. Project SCHOLARS links the resources of SSU's Schools of Social Sciences and Education with the Bellevue, Roseland, Wright, and Old Adobe School Districts. Under the three year project, each year more than 100 SSU students will be trained and placed as reading tutors in one of seven elementary schools starting this fall. The university students will work an average of 14 hours per week for the full year. The Project will engage 735 children in a total of more than 13,000 hours of reading tutoring each year.
The primary goal of the project is to advance the reading skills of elementary students by providing intensive, focused, one-on-one tutoring in reading to children in grades K-3. Students first on the list for tutoring are those who have not yet mastered grade-level reading skills. The emphasis is on reading improvement in the early grades.
The program also provides future teachers opportunities for career exploration and academic development. The SSU student tutors will not only support children academically but also will act as mentors and role models. Project SCHOLARS builds on the groundwork laid by Project TUTOR, an existing program of SSU's School of Social Sciences, expanding service learning opportunities available to college students as well as enhancing the reading ability of elementary grade children.
Project SCHOLARS is funded by a collaborative of the California Department of Education, AmeriCorps-America Reads, AmeriCorps VISTA and the California Commission on Improving Life Through Service. The project will be managed at SSU by the California Institute on Human Services in the School of Social Sciences. For further information, contact Julie McClure, project coordinator, at 707/664-4232.
