Photo Mimi Weinberg/Special To The Town Crier

Mountain View High School students, from left, Jose Villanueva and Nicole Smythe shared how JustREAD has changed their lives with founder Molly McCroy and other JustREAD volunteers Nov. 18.

Tutors from JustREAD, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing sixth- through 12th-graders with one-to-one tutoring on basic reading and writing, gathered for a celebratory luncheon last week.

The group has plenty to celebrate. More than 100 tutors contributed more than 3,241 hours last year tutoring 70 students at Alta Vista High, Mountain View High, Crittenden Middle and Graham Middle schools.

JustREAD is often their last opportunity to gain these reading and writing skills, said Marge Sentous, executive director of JustREAD.

“JustREAD really does make a difference,” said Barry Groves, superintendent of the Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District. “What we do by making students feel comfortable with text can change their lives.”

Groves stressed the importance of keeping these students from illiteracy, a trend many probation officers have said they see linked to juvenile delinquency.

“For kids to thrive they need five meaningful adults in their lives,” Groves said. “JustREADs’ one-to-one instruction adds one significant adult to these students’ lives, … the safety net for so many of our students.”

Mountain View High School Principal Keith Moody thanked the tutors for teaching the students something most high school staff is not equipped to do.

“Because of you the potential for our students is greater,” he said. “You are investing in our youth and giving them tools they need to reach their full potential.”

The luncheon also featured two students who have benefited from JustREAD’s services.

Mountain View High student Nicole Smythe started at Mountain View last year, after several years at a violent high school in Memphis, Tenn. Smythe was born in Sierra Leone and had been taught to speak seven different languages but had not mastered reading and writing English.

“My brain and eyes don’t work together when I read,” she said. “The JustREAD teachers helped me look at the pieces of the words. They’ve changed my life.”

Jose Villanueva, also a Mountain View student, was born in the United States but his family speaks only Spanish.

Villanueva, a dedicated artist, said his JustREAD tutors encouraged him to write about his passion – graffiti.

The tutors helped him publish his story about graffiti art in The Oracle, the school newspaper.

“My tutors put a smile on my face every time I needed them,” he said.

Tutors, who donate a few hours a week, are trained in the JustREAD curriculum before beginning to tutor.

“JustREAD gives us the toolbox, the kit to use to teach the kids the basics of how to read,” said Kathleen Forsythe, a Los Altos resident and tutor. “Then we practice reading with them so they can get up to grade level.”

Tutor Chris Hoberg said that the JustREAD curriculum works.

“What makes it unique is that it has the flexibility to teach teens back to the kindergarten level if necessary,” she said.

Forsythe said tutoring definitely has its rewards.

“Seeing (the students) be able to read, and knowing that they’ll be able to fill out a job application and move on in life (is so gratifying),” she said.

For more information, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , call 740-7472 or visit www.justreadcenters.org.

Contact Traci Newell at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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