AARP Experience Corps Philadelphia engages the time, talent and experience of retirees and older adults to support schools in improving the reading and literacy skills of children in grades K-3. AARP Experience Corps tutors provide intensive and ongoing one-on-one instructional support in reading and literacy to over 2,000 students in over 20 schools in Philadelphia. Each year AARP Experience Corps Philadelphia volunteer members provide nearly 100,000 hours of service to Philadelphia schools. AARP Experience Corps tutors also establish parent outreach, creating a strong link between the tutor, student and parent/caregiver. Working in teams of seven to 10, AARP Experience Corps provides a strong and supportive community presence within each of its partner schools.
AARP Experience Corps Philadelphia is one of the five original national AARP Experience Corps demonstration sites and has been in continuous operation since 1996. Over the years, AARP Experience Corps Philadelphia has received a variety of awards including the National Council on Aging's Promising Practice Award, the Points of Light Foundation's Daily Point of Light Award and the U.S. Administration on Aging's Program Excellence Award. AARP Experience Corps Philadelphia was highlighted in Harvard professor and author Robert Putnam's Better Together: Restoring the Community Together and Civic Ventures founder Marc Freedman's Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America. AARP Experience Corps Philadelphia has also been highlighted in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, Mother Jones, Time magazine, U.S. News & World Report and USA Today, as well as ABC Morning News, the NBC Evening News and on NPR. In 2007, the Philadelphia City Council honored AARP Experience Corps for 10 years of service to the children of Philadelphia.
In addition to serving as tutors, AARP Experience Corps volunteer members also serve in a variety of other leadership program support roles, including field and site coordination and management, administrative support, fundraising, training and advocacy.
Program Launch: 1996
Program Details (2011-2012 data)
Number of students served annually: 2,000-2,500
Volunteer members: 200+
Hours logged: 56,000
Schools served: 22
Program Impact
In the 2011-2012 school year:
- 95 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, 61 percent were rated as having improved by the end of the year
- 98 percent of volunteer members were satisfied with the guidance they received from AARP Experience Corps site coordinators and staff
Contact:
Branch Director
Catherine Mesaros
215-563-6573
cmesaros@aarp.org
