Washington Reading Corps: Impacts of National Service and the ...

Linwood ElementaryBackgroundLinwood is located in the North Hill area of Spokane, an older neighborhood that has becomeincreasing diverse in population. There are close to 500 students enrolled in the school andabout 89 percent of are Caucasian. About 47 percent of the students receive free or reducedlunch. The Reading Corps was a perfect fit for this school, since it had recently lost its Title 1funding (the school was just under the line of FRL qualifications). Part of the school’s missionwith the Reading Corps is to create a reading community, and it has a strong commitment fromthe school staff, community volunteers, and national service members to do this.Role of National ServiceTwo AmeriCorps members, Stephen Engelhardt and Kristine Wilson, work with the ReadingCorps at Linwood. This is the first year that the school has had national service members toassist with the program. Shari Kirihara, the principal, and Hollace Swan, a retired schoolteacherand full-time volunteer, spoke about the difference it has made to have AmeriCorps membersshare the work that they did alone last year in starting the program at Linwood and getting theAccelerated Reader program set up. The principal told us that last year she spent half of hertime running WRC at her school and it was a major undertaking. With two AmeriCorpsmembers on board this year, she is feeling relieved and is able to spend her time moreeffectively on other aspects of the schooling at Linwood.Shari and Hollace said that both Kristine and Stephen exhibit ideal qualities that AmeriCorpsmembers should possess: they have compassion for children, they’re lifetime learners, andthey’re bright, organized, and skilled enough for teachers to trust.Kristine is a reading specialist with a recent degree from Eastern Washington University. With ahusband in the military, her options for teaching permanently in the competitive Spokane schooldistrict were limited. The Reading Corps provided an opportunity for her to bring herbackground to service at Linwood. She said that she has learned the necessity of being flexiblein teaching reading to children, learning that a variety of approaches are necessary to reach eachchild at his or her own level.Stephen, a former truck driver, told us he had been looking for a change in his career. With jobopportunities dwindling in Northport, a small town along the northeast border of Washington, heapplied last year for an AmeriCorps position in the Reading Corps. He served his first year atNorthport Elementary and his AmeriCorps experience opened a window of opportunity forhim. He said the new experience of working with children was a little frightening, but he quicklybecame ready for more challenges. He decided to move to Spokane to serve a second year,while exploring additional options in education for the future. He said that serving in the ReadingCorps has been wonderful, the most rewarding work he has done.13