SOAR After-School Program at the International Prep Academy (Champaign Unit 4's Dual Language School)

http://education.illinois.edu/smallurban/SOAR

SOAR is an after-school tutoring program that provides literacy support and homework help to Latina/o emergent bilingual/biliterate students in grades 2-5 by pairing them one-on-one with University of Illinois volunteer tutors. The university tutors focus on increasing the Spanish-speaking students' engagement in reading with culturally relevant Spanish and bilingual children's books. In addition, tutors assist the students with homework completion. Tutoring the children provides a wonderful opportunity to practice speaking Spanish while also helping a child increase reading skills. Volunteers work with the same child throughout the semester and are able to build a positive and meaningful relationship with the child they tutor. It is such a fun and rewarding experience to work with the Latina/o children! :) The children, teachers, SOAR staff, and parents are so appreciative of the support from Spanish-speaking volunteers! 

SOAR takes place at the International Prep Academy (IPA) at 1605 W. Kirby Ave. in Champaign. IPA is a public Spanish/English dual language elementary school in the Champaign Unit 4 School District. The 10 Gold MTD bus route is a convenient route for tutors as it is direct route from campus to the elementary school with no transfers. The MTD bus stop at Kirby and Rose is directly in front of the school. Irene Ortega, the program coordinator, will provide a document with MTD bus information at the orientation. In addition, there is the opportunity to carpool with other tutors.

The SOAR after-school program takes place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays during the semester. Volunteers should be available from 1:45-3:15 on the day(s) they tutor. There is also the opportunity to combine hours of volunteering at SOAR with volunteering in a dual language classroom at IPA during the school day to gain experience and earn service hours. The teachers are very accommodating as they truly appreciate the support Spanish 232/332 tutors are able to provide for their students. There are also other activities/projects to help with during the semester. Irene, the program coordinator, will help you to schedule enough service hours during the semester.

A bilingual educator shared the following comment regarding the SOAR program: "The program has been extremely successful not only at building reading fluency and comprehensions skills for our Latino students, but it has been immensely important in supporting the students' soci0-emotional needs by connecting UIUC students with our kiddos. . .This program in an invaluable resource for our students and their families. . The SOAR program has made a tremendous and historic impact on the Latino community."

Contact: Irene Ortega at ireneo2@illinois.edu with additional questions and to let her know you signed up for SOAR. Please be sure to provide your net ID or campus email address below. You may also sign up to tutor more than one day a week or let Victor know that you would interested in a combination of tutoring during SOAR along with volunteering in a dual classroom during the school day.  

Below are the scheduled orientation sessions for new SOAR tutors:

Spring 2020 Orientation Sessions for New SOAR Tutors

Please attend ONE of the following orientation sessions:

January 28, 29, and 30 from 2:00-3:30 pm

Orientation will take place at International Prep Academy, 1605 W. Kirby, Champaign 

Additional information can be found on the website:  http://education.illinois.edu/smallurban/soar