The Los Ayudantes Impact

Thank-You's from our Teachers

Hi tutors! I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your service in my virtual classroom this year.  The conditions have been challenging, but you all remained committed and stuck with us even when it was REALLY messy.  We faced technology issues, chaotic and sometimes loud student environments, changing schedules, and inconsistent student attendance.  Yet, despite it all, you waited patiently for me to sort the break out rooms, email parents, and shift students about.  My students needed more support than I could give alone, and you all arrived with smiles and help each week.  You widened the reach and deepened the impact.  Thank you so much. I hope to see some of you- in person- next year! - Jane LaPaglia, ELD teacher Kennedy School
I cannot begin to express my gratitude for all that you did this year for my 6th graders. As I am finalizing grades and meeting with students one on one, I had a kid ask me to explain what her grade meant. I said, “it means that your hard work during office hours has paid off.” This was her first time receiving positive feedback in a class and she was in shock that she was able to accomplish this. Thank you for your flexibility, hard work, patience, and for all of your support. You didn’t just help a 6th grader read or complete homework, you gave them the confidence they needed to know they could do better than an F or a D. I wish you all the best in everything the rest of this year brings to you. Thank you for making the time to invest in the next leaders, doctors, teachers, lawyers and so much more. Our future is brighter because of your time! Thank you! - Cynthia Cardonas, former ELD teacher Kennedy, current Community Schools Director, MIT

Impact for Students

  • Provide mentoring and individualized attention and time for in depth reading support.
  • Personal connection and encouragement that inspires students to persist in difficult learning
"Thank you for making it a safe and happy environment to read in, and thank you for helping me with my reading skills." -  MIT Student
Thank you for helping me read better and boost up my confidence for reading in front of others." - Kennedy Student

Impact for Teachers

  • Extra support for struggling students.
  • Multiply teachers’ ability to work one-on-one or in small groups with students
  • Provide mentoring for students struggling with organizational and time management skills.
"My students receive quality assistance in smaller groups than I could do on my own, and I have an opportunity to focus on the student who are left with me.  I notice an increase in the quality of work the students turn in after working with Los Ayudantes.  Its as if they see what is actually expected AND that they are able to work to that level. Then they seem to try to reproduce that level on later work." - Minda Hurd, Language Arts teacher at McKinely Institute of Technology (now retired.)

Impact for Schools

  • Helps schools to provide greater support for students - and in particular for long term English learner designated students. 
  • Provides additional human and curriculum resources at no cost to schools.
"McKinley Institute of Technology is honored to have a continued partnership with Los Ayudantes.  Los Ayudantes' volunteer "helpers" have been providing reading support for many McKinley students. Their volunteers have been kind, flexible and always willing to go the extra mile to support students and their teachers.  We hope Los Ayudantes continues to expand and gain new mentors to support more Redwood City students." - Nick Fournagiakis MIT Principal (current principal at Kennedy)
 "Kennedy Middle School has partnered with Los Ayudantes for the past two years and is looking forward to continuing this relationship into the future. Each week, students look forward to working with the volunteers one-on-one or in a small group. Volunteers read with students, converse with them, help them with research and grammar skills, and work with them on their writing. Beyond that, they become role models and mentors for our students, which is so important during this middle school period where students are going through puberty and trying to figure out their identities." - Sabrina Adler, Kennedy Principal (moved on to principal in Belmont school district.)

Students who have achieved grade level proficiency in English language skills are MUCH more likely to graduate high school. 
​Consider the statistics:

  • Slightly more than 50% of the roughly 9,200 children served by the Redwood City School District are considered English language learners.
  • Kids who don't read proficiently by 4th grade are 4 times likelier to drop out of school.  
  • 42% of San Mateo county's 3rd graders, about 3000 children, are not reading proficiently.  This figure rises to 65% for Latino children, 59% for African American children, and 63% for Pacific Islander children.  
  • 88% of high school dropouts could not read proficiently by 3rd grade 
  • 42% of the county’s kids will struggle academically or may drop out. They are likely to be under-employed or unemployed throughout their lives. 
  • Limited reading skills, plus limited written and oral mastery of the English language can affect these students’ ability to learn new concepts and complete required assignments.
1 Cullinan, Bernice E. "Independent Reading and School Achievement", American Association of School Librarians. Accessed February 2014.
2 California Department of Education’s DataQuest
3  Bureau of Labor Statistics’ National Longitudinal Study of Youth
4 ProLiteracy and the National Assessment of Adult Literacy