Article/Column

June 1, 2009

AFRO-American

Helping Vernon to read

by Congressman Elijah E. Cummings

Of all the many remarkable people I am fortunate to meet, those who give of themselves to others, like my good friend Vernon Jordan, are the most inspiring.

While he was still a young student, Vernon Jordan had a summer job driving for a white banker.  Sometimes, however, the banker would take a nap during the afternoon, and Vernon would pass the time reading.

One day, the banker discovered Vernon with his nose in a book - and from that day forward, the banker would exclaim to his relatives, "Vernon can read!"

Today, Vernon Jordan credits his mother with encouraging his reading and the analytical ability that helped him to become one of the most gifted and admired lawyers in our country.  I was thinking about the significance of his life story last Monday as I rose to applaud older members of our own community who are volunteering their talents in Baltimore’s elementary schools.

More than 300 trained "Experience Corps" volunteers help children in kindergarten through the third grade receive the extra help and support in learning to read that can be so critical in the early years.  A national service program for volunteers age 55 and older, Baltimore has the largest Experience Corps contingent in the nation.

For at least 15 hours each week during the school year, the volunteers work with our teachers to support student achievement - and the fruits of their labor are plain to see.

Johns Hopkins researchers have confirmed that students in Experience Corps classrooms show significant gains in their scores on the Maryland School Performance Assessments, compared with other students who do not receive the volunteer help.

These findings support similar conclusions by Washington University in St. Louis.  Children who have these older adults as tutors make 60 percent more progress in two fundamental reading skills: reading comprehension and sounding out words.

Although gratifying, these objective evaluations do not surprise me.

For years now, experts in early childhood development have been telling this nation’s policy makers that children need ongoing, positive and secure adult relationships at school in order to thrive educationally.  These adult relationships are precisely what the Experience Corps model is designed to provide.

As a result, teachers in Experience Corps classrooms report that their students show marked gains in self-confidence and make measurable gains in reading and other academic disciplines.  The teachers also give credit to the volunteers for improved respect for adults and fewer disciplinary referrals.

"Having 15 adults over the age of 55 in my building provides a steady, calming influence," Barclay Elementary Middle School Principal Jenny Heinbaugh has observed. "It’s far more conducive to teaching and learning with Experience Corps around."

Sponsored since 1998 by the Greater Homewood Community Corporation and the Johns Hopkins University Center on Aging, Baltimore’s Experience Corps volunteers are making a difference in our community. They also have helped to create a national model for early educational intervention that works.

With more than 2,000 Experience Corps member now giving of themselves to lift up 20,000 students in 23 cities nationwide, all Americans are benefitting - and the beneficiaries include the volunteers themselves.

As 76-year-old Richard Fryer, who volunteers in Baltimore County, observed recently in the Baltimore Sun, "I feel like I am 46 because I am working with Experience Corps.  When you are with 24 kids three days a week, you are not just sitting on your thumbs.  It keeps me active and keeps me physically more fit."

Mr. Fryer’s reaction to the program seems to be widespread.  Washington University research has found that Experience Corps volunteers appear less prone to suffer from the depression and other functional limitations that so often can afflict us in our advancing years.

Viewed from almost every perspective, volunteer programs like Experience Corps deserve our support - both as a society and individually.

I was gratified this year to be able to work and vote for the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act [S. 277 / H.R. 1388], called "the most inclusive and comprehensive national service legislation in America’s history."

We have authorized an increase in the number of AmeriCorps members to 250,000 nationally.  Fully 10 percent of these AmeriCorps slots will be reserved for organizations that engage Americans who are 55 and over in proven initiatives like Baltimore’s Experience Corps.

I am confident that "Serve America" can be successful - especially if we all do what we can individually.

Our elementary schools are filled with young Vernon Jordans, just waiting to be helped and encouraged.  If you may be interested in helping, you can call Baltimore’s Experience Corps  at (410) 961-1905 for more information.

Our retirement years need not be ordinary nor lonely. They can become extraordinary by helping Vernon to read.

- The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings represents the 7th Congressional District of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives.