National Literacy Month: How the Y Is Supporting Readers Across St. Louis
September is National Literacy Month, a time to celebrate the power of reading!
At the Gateway Region YMCA, supporting literacy goes beyond books and classrooms. Across the Greater St. Louis region, our Y programs are bringing together students, volunteers, families, and community partners to help learners strengthen their skills and build confidence in reading.
The need for literacy support in our community is real. In St. Louis, only 40% of K-3 students are reading at grade level. But with the right support, students can make progress, as the Gateway Region YMCA Community Literacy program allows students to gain 2+ grade levels in just one year.
Through programs serving both children and adults, partnering with organizations throughout the community, and with the help of dedicated volunteers, the Y is helping more people develop the literacy skills they need to thrive.
Meeting Learners Where They Are
Through YMCA Community Literacy, children, teens, and adults can receive free, one-on-one support designed around their individual needs.
Volunteer tutors work with learners to strengthen essential reading skills, including phonics, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. Tutoring is available at public libraries throughout the bi-state St. Louis Metro area as well as virtually, making support even more accessible to learners across our community.
For youth, that individual attention can make a difference that reaches far beyond reading. As skills grow, so can their confidence in the classroom and beyond.
One YRead student's story shows just how much that support can mean:
One student started the YRead program reading only basic words and limited text. She not only struggled to read, she struggled with confidence. After a year in the program, she went up 4 grade levels and was so proud of herself (we were too!). Then the following year, a year after her participation in YRead, she found her tutor in the building to show her the star certificate she'd received at the year-end award ceremony. Her smile was huge and she could barely contain her excitement. She'd also gone up a grade level that year, as is typical in a school year for students reading on grade level. She is now a student who reads on grade level thanks to her year in the YRead program and her tutor who was patient and persistent.
And literacy support isn't only for kids. YMCA Community Literacy serves learners from first grade through adulthood, helping people at different stages of life work toward their own goals.
For longtime YMCA volunteer tutor Mindy, who has worked with the same adult learner for several years, those goals put the importance of literacy into perspective. When they first started working together, Mindy asked her student what she hoped to accomplish,
She had told me, ‘I really want to be able to help my grandchildren with their homework. Even just the first grader and second grader. I can’t do that now, and I really want to be able to help… After that, I want to get a driver’s license, and I want to eventually get my GED.’
Years later, Mindy has witnessed her student make significant progress toward becoming a stronger, more confident reader. During one of their more recent tutoring sessions, her student came across a difficult word that Mindy expected they would need to work through together. Instead, she read it correctly on her first try:
She goes, ‘I’ve been practicing. You know, when we’re not together, I read and I work on this.’ …She was thrilled that she got it.
Moments like these show how literacy can open doors to greater confidence and possibilities in life, whether it be for children or adult learners.
College Students Supporting the Next Generation
At one of the Gateway Region YMCA’s specialty locations, the Washington University Campus Y, college students are also helping young readers build their skills through their program, America Reads. Through partnerships with schools, libraries, and community organizations, WashU student leaders work directly with youth to support their academic success.
Campus Y leaders have also partnered with Turn the Page STL to pilot a phonics-based tutoring program, with 142 youth receiving tutoring at St. Louis Public Libraries and schools in 2024 alone.
For WashU graduate and former America Reads tutor Kate Choi, working with young readers showed her how meaningful that work can truly be,
With each session, I see their confidence grow as they master new skills, and it’s a powerful reminder of how access to education shapes opportunity.
Kate’s impact on learners in St. Louis extended beyond her tutoring sessions. She helped pilot a phonics curriculum in partnership with the St. Louis Public Library, working with community partners, recruiting America Reads tutors, and supporting program assessments as the pilot program expanded to additional library sites and into St. Louis Public Schools. For more on Kate’s work during her time at Campus Y, click here to read a blog from WashU.
This program is just one example of what makes the Campus Y unique: college students putting service into action and using their time and talents to support the broader St. Louis community.
Click here to learn more about Campus Y’s programming and impact.
How You Can Be Part of the Story
National Literacy Month is a celebration of reading, but it's also an opportunity to consider how each of us can help make literacy support more accessible in our own community.
YMCA Community Literacy is always looking for caring volunteers to work one-on-one with learners. You don't need to be a teacher or literacy expert. The Y provides all necessary training, materials, and ongoing support.
And for current tutors, volunteering is about so much more than simply teaching someone to read, though that is a significant feat in itself. Diane Madras, a YMCA literacy tutor who primarily teaches adults, says tutoring has introduced her to people whose experiences are different from her own, helping her understand how much those who can read may take that ability for granted:
There are people out there all over who are too embarrassed to say, ‘I don’t know how to do this.’ And if you’re just there saying, ‘I’m here to help you. How can I help you? What do you need?’ … you then learn what you don’t know.
Her advice to someone considering becoming a tutor is,
Please come tutor with us because it’s really fun. The people you meet are really, really nice… You know you’re making somebody’s life easier. And if you can do that for somebody, that’s huge.
Volunteer tutors can work with learners in person at public libraries throughout the bi-state St. Louis area or virtually. For someone working to become a stronger reader, providing even just one hour of your week volunteering can make a big difference.
This September, celebrate National Literacy Month by helping us build a stronger community, one reader at a time.
Learn more about YMCA Community Literacy, register for tutoring, or become a volunteer tutor at gwrymca.org/community-literacy.