Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 18, 1994 TAG: 9411180084
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-13 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Short
Potential volunteers for the new program held their first meeting at the school Thursday to learn how it worked.
It is based on the PLUS (Partners in Learning and Understanding with Students) program carried out successfully in Bristol and elsewhere. It is apparently the first of its kind to be tried in the New River Valley.
Robert Reinhold, who took part in that program and a similar one in Missouri before moving to Pulaski County after his recent retirement from the Presbyterian ministry, spearheaded development of the program at Critzer.
``This is a brand-new program that's school-based,'' he said.
It is aimed at bringing together an adult volunteer with a child in need of tutoring or at risk of having problems in school, he said. It will provide attention to children in grades 1-3, he said, where such problems first begin to appear.
``In the past, I'm afraid we've waited until too late to identify those youngsters. By the time they get to high school, they're really too far behind,'' Reinhold said. ``I think everybody in education has come to this conclusion, and it's about time we stopped talking and did something.''
An adult volunteer spends an hour a week with a student during school hours. Mentors must go through a screening process before being accepted into the program and being trained.
by CNB