2022-100-Faces-Book - Flipbook - Page 47
Amare
First-grader. Reader. Future scientist.
Seven-year-old Amare dreams of becoming a scientist
when he grows up.
Some days, he says he wants to be a firefighter and
other days a police officer.
“I just say ‘What’s this word? OK, what’s this word?’
Then we put it together. He’s getting really good
at that.”
Even as a first-grader, Amare is very technicallyminded, interested in thinking critically and exploring
his world.
The Y Literacy program is important for students like
Amare because of the individualized attention he gets.
Amare is vibrant and energetic but at school he’s a little
more reserved. With Heather, he has the confidence to
ask questions that he might not ask at school.
“He likes to see how things work,” his mother Omeka
says. “I’m pushing him to be independent, to do things
on his own.”
“He’s very inquisitive with me,” Heather says. “He’ll say
‘Why does this word have this letter? Why does this
word have to look like this?’ ”
But despite his determination, Amare struggled as
he learned to read throughout kindergarten. Omeka
noticed he was having trouble with his speech, so she
enrolled him in speech therapy after school. Then she
discovered the Y Literacy program through the YMCA
of Middle Tennessee, which offers free one-on-one
reading tutoring to students who are reading below
grade level. That’s where he met his tutor and friend
Heather.
Now in her second year of tutoring at the Y, Heather
knows how important learning to read was to her
own development and loves seeing that growth in
her students.
Heather and Amare spend every Monday afternoon
together, working on phonics, fluency, comprehension
and vocabulary.
“Just from working with Heather for the fall semester,
he made a whole year’s growth,” says Jordan Waller,
senior director of the Y Literacy program. “He went
from [reading on] kindergarten level to the beginning
of first-grade level. It’s hard to make an entire year’s
growth in that short of time.”
Heather starts each session by reading a book. Amare
typically enjoys his after-school snack while Heather
reads and points out specific pictures and words.
Whenever she sees him struggling or frustrated, she
encourages Amare to break the sentences down into
individual words.
“I have been an avid reader since I could read,” she
says. “I read … I don’t know how many books a year,
and I want to instill that in Amare. Tutoring helps me
do that in a small way. It’s just an hour a week, but that
could make a big difference.”
Omeka says she knows Amare is strong-willed and will
continue to excel in school.
“He has it in him. He wants to learn,” she says. “He
adores math. I keep telling him, ‘You know you have to
have both pieces. You’ve got to be able to read well so
that you can do the math.’ ”
In a couple years, Amare’s reading skills will be critical
to his success in other subjects. Third grade is the
turning point when children make the transition from
learning to read to reading to learn. And with dreams
of becoming a scientist, learning to read is an integral
investment in Amare’s future.
YMCA of Middle Tennessee
