Reading Mentor recruits friends and family

Reading Mentors make the best recruiters! Just ask Bob Daum. He has recruited seven new Reading Mentors so far this year.

“I talked about my experience at Genesis School and how much I enjoyed getting to know my reading buddy,” Daum said about his recruitment efforts. “Plus, how much enjoyment they would get out of volunteering.”

It helped that six of the seven recently retired and have time to help. The seventh is Daum’s daughter, who signed on as a Flextra. For all of them, it’s a chance to stay connected.

“We’ve also made it a social event,” Daum said. “After we read, we pick a place downtown and go to lunch.”

He hasn’t recruited anyone during those lunches – yet.

“I am constantly on the lookout for Reading Mentors,” he said. My best luck is with people like myself who are retired and may be looking to ‘pay it forward.’” 

As he headed into retirement, Daum knew he wanted to find something similar to the mentoring he did when he worked at FedEx.

“I got advice from a friend that said you should figure out what you liked best about your job and find something in retirement to duplicate that feeling,” he said.

After talking to his friend Mark Cummings, a long-time Reading Mentor, he knew he was ready to join and loves reading at Genesis.

“I encourage new readers to join us at Genesis because it’s such a great school,” he said.

And the students are pretty great, too.

“My favorite part of being a Reading Mentor is establishing a relationship with my student and helping them improve their reading skills along with getting to know them on a personal level,” he said. “It’s very rewarding to see them improve from the beginning of school to the end of the year.” 

You can “pay it forward” and help students build a brighter future as a Reading Mentor, too. Visit our website to learn how.