Before catching the train for his daily commute to San Francisco each morning, Rob Morgan comes to Selby Lane School to tutor. He has one student that he tutors on Mondays and Wednesdays and another that he tutors on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Since joining YES Reading in September 2007, Rob has enthusiastically embraced tutoring, forming positive tutoring relationships with his students and helping them grow as readers.
1. Why did you decide to volunteer with YES Reading? I was looking for an opportunity to help out in my community, and was interested in working with children who were struggling to catch up to their grade level. What attracted me to YES Reading was the ability to work one-on-one with the kids in such a well-thought-out and supportive program.
2. What do you enjoy most about your work with YES Reading and the students in the program? Working with my students has been very rewarding and it feels great to know that I’m making a difference in such an important area of their lives. I also like that the YES Reading environment at Selby Lane is always so positive and encouraging; all of the volunteers are here because they truly want to make a difference, and the site directors are very passionate and supportive of both the students and the tutors.
3. What is our occupation/profession? I am the product manager of a web development company in San Francisco.
4. Is there a particularly memorable student or experience from your time at YES Reading? Aside from the work itself, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know my students and fostering relationships with them. It is very heartwarming that they seem genuinely glad to see me each morning and if I am ever feeling tired or stressed out, I always feel more centered and happy after tutoring.
5. How has your work with YES Reading impacted you? As a tutor, we can offer students different perspectives by exposing them to new words and ways of thinking about their world, but I’ve also learned that students offer us new (and forgotten) perspectives on our adult world just by being around them. It seems corny to say, but seeing life through a child’s eyes again has brought new appreciation for the simpler things in life that we forget to enjoy in our sometimes complex adult world.
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