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Orit Yefet volunteered at YES Reading’s program on the Castro School campus during the 2005-06 school year. Her experience as a YES Reading tutor, and the impact that she saw on her YES Reading student, has inspired her to pursue a teaching credential. Orit took the time to answer a few questions for this edition of our spotlight.
Why did you become a volunteer with YES Reading?
"I received an email from the Mountain View High School PTA regarding YES Reading’s need for volunteer tutors. I have had some experience tutoring at Alta Vista High School and I had enjoyed that, so I contacted Yve to find out more."
What do you enjoy most about your work with YES Reading and the students in the program?
"I found that working with a student twice a week gave us the opportunity to find effective ways of working together. I really enjoyed working with my student, Rafael, and I felt deeply committed to giving him the extra help that he needed to achieve academic confidence and success."
Is there a particularly memorable student or experience from your time at YES Reading?
"I worked with Rafael for about five months and even though he was doing very good work, he seemed pretty nonchalant (which from my experience, is par for the course for a fifth grade boy). At the end of the school year, when parents were invited to attend [a YES Reading tutoring session], Rafael’s mother came to one of our sessions. Rafael chose a difficult book to read and he read beautifully. All three of us, Rafael, his mother and I, were just glowing while he read. It was clear to me then how important this was to him. I was thrilled to be part of that."
How has your work with YES Reading impacted you?
"At some point this year I found that I was enjoying the tutoring so much that I decided to go back to school and get a teaching credential. At first I thought that I would get an elementary school credential, but when I found that there is a need for science teachers at the secondary level, I decided to use my degree in biology to apply for a high school science credential program. I'll be starting the program this fall. I told Rafael about this development, and that I hope to see him in my classroom. From then on instead of saying goodbye, he said, ´See you in high school.´ Except for the time he read in front of his mother. Then he said, ´See you in college.´ "
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