Do you Remember Not Knowing Your ABCs?

    

Meet Keyoune. Keyoune is a first-grader at our East Hills Village site . . . and a very determined young man. At the beginning of this school year, Keyoune could identify only about 15 letters of the alphabet. The KCUYC staff recognized right away that if Keyoune had any chance of completing his first-grade year, he would need to overcome this significant hurdle. Think about it: Without being able to recognize nearly half the alphabet, simple actions like sounding out words and reading and doing homework become unconquerable obstacles. Ms. Jessica and Ms. Karen began to drill Keyoune on his alphabet and vowel sounds, all the while encouraging how important it is to read and do your homework. Keyoune, to his credit, accepted the challenge and now, a semester later, he knows the full alphabet and their sounds. "He's a great kid," beamed Ms. Jessica, "and it's encouraging to walk into the room and hear him sounding out words or spelling them by simply knowing basic phonics that he didn't know at the beginning of the year!"

Gaining Confidence & Skills
Participation in the Accelerated Reader program is one of the core activities at the KCUYC sites. Designed to help students practice their reading and comprehension skills - and significantly improve them over time - the program provides some self-directed activities but is also a mentor-intensive program. Please consider a donation of funds or of your time that will enable us to continue working with students just like Keyoune! Step by step - and at times, even letter by letter - these students are gaining the confidence and being empowered with skills necessary to achieve success and stability in their daily lives.

Mentors Are Essential
As the KC Urban Youth Center continues to expand, there is always a need for more adults willing to build relationships with and mentor our youth - students like Keyoune. Without this critical help from volunteers, the KCUYC would not be able to achieve any level of lasting impact in the lives of its students and families. Every day mentors donate their time to read with students, to help them with their homework, and to listen and encourage students as they share about what's happening in their lives. Some mentors visit once a week and stay for an hour or two, while others come in on multiple days, staying for a couple of hours each day. Our highest hope is that there would be one mentor for each student every day of the week at each site. Regardless of your time availability or experience, however, the KCUYC is always in need of more volunteers looking to become mentors to our wonderful students. If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please e-mail us at volunteer@kcurbanyouthcenter.org, or call us at 816-221-1002.