November, 2020
Each month we recognize an AmeriCorps member serving in Utah for going above and beyond the pledge they took to “Get Things Done.” This month we are proud to recognize Brooke Britt who is serving with the AmeriCorps Education Initiative of Utah (AEIOU).
AEIOU has AmeriCorps members in 75 schools across the state of Utah. AmeriCorps members advocate for and support students who are struggling with literacy, attendance, academics, and credit recovery..
Brooke Britt runs the AEIOU tutoring program at West Point Elementary in Northern Utah. This is her second year serving as an AmeriCorps member following her involvement as a volunteer in the program before becoming a member. During the school shut down last spring, Brooke set up an online tutoring program and was able to have many of her volunteers continue to tutor students remotely using the great tools she developed. She also tutored students herself all day every day to ensure that the students who didn’t have volunteers to continue to help them were able to continue to get the reading support they needed. Brooke’s online tutoring materials have now been shared with all members working in elementary schools through AEIOU so that students can receive reading support regardless of whether volunteers or students can do tutoring on site at a school. This school year, through creativity and hard work with teachers and administration as they strive to support students safely in a condensed school schedule, Brooke and her volunteers have found ways to offer twice weekly tutoring sessions to almost 50 at-risk readers (so far) who are progressing nicely with their reading while also enjoying the many side benefits of spending one-on-one time regularly with caring and encouraging adults.