More than 28,000 people volunteer every year with AARP Foundation to support communities across the country. AARP Foundation recently asked 1,300+ individuals who volunteer in their national reading tutoring program, AARP Foundation Experience Corps, about their reasons and motivations for doing so. They found that older adults serving as Experience Corps tutors see their efforts as a journey of fulfillment, promise, and passion.
If you haven’t heard of it, Experience Corps was first established in 1995 in close collaboration with the National Senior Service Corps (a former program of what’s now called AmeriCorps Seniors) and with researchers from Johns Hopkins University. After many iterations over the years and with pivotal innovations through the pandemic, this community-based volunteer program is stronger than ever, empowering people over 50 to serve as tutors and help students become better readers by the end of third grade.
Experience Corps ensures volunteer success through extensive training, peer networks, ongoing evaluation, national recognition, and meaningful engagement. Across the country, local programs employ the same structured, evidence-based tutoring model that bolsters one literacy skill particularly important called “fluency,” or one’s ability to read as quickly as they speak. It is a proven “triple win,” helping students succeed, older adults thrive, and communities grow stronger.
Here are a handful of reasons why older adults choose Experience Corps:
Fulfilling Promises
For some, it’s about keeping a promise to a lost friend or family member by ensuring others don’t face the same struggles with literacy.
“I had a friend who never learned how to read. I was never able to help him before he passed. So, I made a promise to learn how to teach someone else to read. When the tutoring opportunity arose through AARP, I jumped on it.”
Mentoring Youth
Volunteers understand the profound impact of their mentorship on a child’s life, taking pride in the progress and confidence they see developing in their students.
“Extensive travel [during] my career left little time for engagement in the community for giving back. As I prepared for retirement, I desired to remedy that. My wife's career is centered on education via media. In listening to her discuss the impact on a child if they are not reading [at] grade level by 3rd grade, I realized that there might be a way for me to have some impact through volunteering. [Experience Corps] offered that avenue. And I love the process, the interaction with the kids, and knowing it makes a difference.”
Sharing Time and Knowledge
Many volunteers have a deep love for reading and learning, which they eagerly share with the next generation, hoping to spark a lifelong passion for knowledge.
“I believe that reading competency is crucial for students to succeed in school. It gives me great pride to see the progress that some of my students have made since I started with them last fall.”
Gifting Back
Whether it’s filling a resource gap in schools or simply having the time to contribute, volunteers are driven by the desire to give back to their community and support children’s growth.
“I believe everyone has at least one gift to share with others. As a retiree, I have the gift of time to give to students who need a little extra support getting to grade level. I enjoy working with kids and seeing them grow over the course of just a few months. They grow not just in their reading ability but also in their maturity level. By the end, they are ‘my kids,’ and that boosts my overall well-being.”
But volunteering with AARP Foundation Experience Corps isn’t merely about teaching kids how to read; it’s about shaping futures, fulfilling promises, and creating lasting impacts on both young lives and communities at large. “I am energized by working with the children,” says a volunteer. “I enjoy seeing them each week and seeing the progress they make in their reading journey.”
One volunteer poignantly adds, “Because if you can’t read fluently, nothing else will happen. No math, no science, no history, no social studies, no literature. Reading is the Rosetta stone of education.”
Experience Corps volunteers are not just tutors; they are mentors, healers, and community members who believe in the transformative power of reading. They know they are part of a larger effort to ensure every child has the opportunity to succeed and thrive through literacy. And they know volunteerism is important for their own well-being. “My community needs me and I need my community,” states a volunteer, showing the mutual benefit of their service.
Support AARP Foundation’s “triple win” and get involved with Experience Corps. Learn more at tutor.aarpfoundation.org
