Volunteer Spotlights: Pooja, Neal, Zenia, & Gulnar

Pooja Jain has been tutoring with YES Reading since the beginning of the 2007-2008 academic year at Horace Mann Elementary School in San Jose, CA. She has been an integral part of the tutor team in San Jose, tutoring a 4th grade girl twice a week right after lunch time. She is an aspiring teacher and hopes that her YES Reading tutoring experience will provides some insight into what teaching is like.

1. Why did you decide to volunteer with YES Reading? YES Reading is a wonderful organization.  I loved the fact we get to work with kids on a one-on-one basis and give them all the attention they deserve.

2. What do you enjoy most about your work with YES Reading & the students in the program? I have enjoyed every moment of my time spent in the YES Reading room.  Every Tuesday and Thursday I look forward to reading a new book or continuing an old one with my student.  Working with children, being able to share my knowledge with them and knowing that we are creating value makes me feel good. By sharing what I know, I’m able to help her expand her perspective on many different aspects of life.

3. What is your occupation/profession? I am a homemaker.

4. Is there a particularly memorable student or experience from your time at YES Reading?  Please tell us about it. It is always heartwarming when my student tells me that she wants to read more or when she says that she likes being in the reading room. There are actually many different memorable moments. I always find it funny and cute how my student takes a very literal meaning to words. For example, she thought a fairy tale was the actual tail of a fairy.

5. How has your work with YES Reading impacted you? Working at YES Reading has helped me understand children better.  I also learned a few teaching skills and has made me more confident about pursuing a teaching career.

THREE TUTORS IN ONE FAMILY

Our volunteers come from all walks of life - but it is not everyday that we see three tutors from the same family in a given week! Five students are helped with the efforts of one Mountain View Family.

Neal Kawas, a senior at Mountain View High School, began volunteering three years ago with YES Reading. He has always been interested in teaching, so tutoring was a natural fit for him. Over the years he has tutored first through fifth graders, and Neal also volunteers at the tutoring center at his high school.

When she became old enough, his sister, Zenia, who is now a freshman at MVHS, joined YES Reading as a volunteer tutor in September 2007. She tutors Alma, a fifth grader at Castro Elementary School. Zenia especially enjoys interacting with Alma, getting to know her interests and hobbies, discussing the various books they read together, and relating those experiences with each other.

Neal and Zenia's mother, Gulnar Kawas, became interested in YES Reading when she heard about the growth of the program - and their need for more tutors. She volunteers twice each week, and works with three students each day. Gulnar believes that the tutoring experience is invaluable; it gives her children an appreciation for learning, managing their time, meeting new people, and most importantly, giving back to the community. The Kawases find that tutoring can be a bonding and enlightening experience for the entire family!

Back to Newsletter, February 2008