Teen Literacy Corps (TLC)
Partners with Cleveland High School

Cleveland High School students modeling a reading session during the KOREH L.A. training.

Recent studies show that approximately 80% of 4th grade students in the LAUSD school system read below grade level and that only approximately 25% of 11th graders are proficient in reading. These extremely troubling statistics were the impetus for KOREH L.A. and Cleveland High School’s partnership to train high school students from Canoga Park, Reseda and Cleveland to become reading partners to LAUSD elementary school students and preschool children to assist them in the development and strengthening of their literacy skills.

While KOREH L.A. works primarily with adult volunteers, we have recently shifted a great deal of focus to recruiting teens. This new initiative, the Teen Literacy Corps (TLC), is made up of Los Angeles-area high school students who have completed a KOREH L.A. training session and volunteer at a nearby LAUSD elementary school. Some of these teens are from private schools, but a growing number are from low-performing LAUSD high schools.

Cleveland High School students practicing a literacy skit during the KOREH L.A. training.

Studies show that there are many educational benefits of cross-aged student mentoring (when teens serve as mentors to elementary school students). High school student volunteers (mentors) serve as positive role models in the relationships they forge with the elementary school children (mentees) that they meet with each week. These relationships benefit both the mentor and mentee. The mentor feels a greater sense of worth from the responsibility of helping the mentee and, as a result, the mentor tends to become more engaged in his or her own academic pursuits. Mentors have been known to achieve better attendance, improve academic performance, and decrease the likelihood of dropping out of school and participating in anti-social behavior. Mentors receive these benefits while providing elementary school children with higher self-esteem, improved attendance, and enhanced academic performance.

Robert O'Connor, Department Chair of the Careers with Children Lab at Cleveland High School, is no stranger to cross-aged mentoring. Mr. Bob (as his students call him) has previously enlisted high school students in empowering educational programs. KOREH L.A.’s admiration for Mr. O’ Connor’s wonderful program was the impetus for the partnership. The combined efforts of both these programs have resulted in an even greater impact. As a result of the KOREH L.A. trainings held at Cleveland High School on January 8th, more than 230 San Fernando Valley high school students from three high schools are now helping more than 250 children. It is the hope and belief of the KOREH L.A. program that these high school mentors will enrich the lives of the elementary school students and preschool children while also enriching their own lives.