The AARP Experience Corps program in Minneapolis/St. Paul is hosted by Volunteers of America of Minnesota. Older adults provide literacy tutoring in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms. Tutors are community members who work with students one-on-one or in small groups under supervision of the classroom teacher. They get great personal satisfaction in working with the children and providing a vital service to their community and the national literacy movement.
The mission of Volunteers of America of Minnesota is to help people gain self-reliance, dignity and hope.
Program Launch: 1995
Program Data (2011-2012 school year):
Schools/centers served: 10
Students served: 542
Volunteer members: 80
Hours logged: over 25,000
Program Impact:
In the 2011-2012 school year:
- 94 percent of teachers rated AARP Experience Corps volunteer members as being good or excellent in their overall quality of assistance
- Of the 96 percent of students whose overall reading skills were rated as being below grade level at the beginning of the year, 71 percent were rated as having improved by the end of the year
- 99 percent of volunteer members were satisfied with the guidance they received from AARP Experience Corps site coordinators and staff
Contact:
Paul Simone
Project Manager
7625 Metro Blvd.
Minneapolis, MN 55439
952-945-4164
Fax: 952-945-4105
paul.simone@voamn.org
