Frank Nibley's teaching space at Centennial Elementary School is nothing more than a table and a couple of chairs in the school's hallways.
Nibley is not a teacher, but three days a week he is a tutor and mentor to nine students at the school, 2200 W. Wetmore Road.
Last week, Nibley and 8-year-old Ashley Helms sat at a table — more Ashley's size than Nibley's — and reviewed sentences the third-grader wrote for a classroom assignment.
Nibley, 72, is able to tutor individual children because of his participation in Experience Corps, a volunteer tutoring program for people 55 or older coordinated and sponsored by the Volunteer Center of Southern Arizona.
Experience Corps volunteers tutor students in literacy at four Flowing Wells School District elementary schools, including Centennial. Tutors commit to 450 hours a year or about 15 hours a week for nine months.
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Volunteers who work 15 hours each week earn a $107.92 biweekly stipend.
"The connection they have with kids is huge," Centennial Principal Lynette Patton said. "They are really supplying them a lot of time and attention."
Homer Davis, Laguna and Walter Douglas elementary schools also welcome the presence of tutors on their campuses.
The program began three years ago with two tutors at Walter Douglas. Today, about 25 tutors are split among the four Flowing Wells schools.
More volunteers needed
Each school can accommodate about eight tutors, but interest in the program has slowed, said Linda Krause, a senior manager at the volunteer center. To attract more volunteers, the volunteer center will hold an informational meeting at 9:30 a.m. Friday at the Oro Valley Public Library, 1305 W. Naranja Drive.
Nibley learned about the program from his wife, Diane, and attended an informational meeting at her suggestion when the program started.
"I signed up that day," said Nibley, a retired bank vice president. "My wife got me the job."
He and his wife moved to the Tucson area from Hawaii in 1996 after he retired from the bank.
Nibley, a SaddleBrooke resident, and Ashley meet three times a week for 30 minutes.
The program focuses on helping students, such as Ashley, with reading skills, but tutors also can help with math and writing skills.
Tutors mostly work with students in kindergarten through third grade but can help any child reading below a third-grade reading level.
"We do work and we play games," said Ashley, who appreciates the extra time the tutoring gives her to finish her work outside the classroom. "In there we only have 10 minutes."
The program doesn't require any special skills, but volunteers receive training and support services and go through an orientation. They also must complete a background check.
After Nibley ended his session with Ashley last week, he moved on to practice spelling with Gabriel Villa, from whom Nibley said he has seen tremendous progress.
Gabriel, 8, fiddled around with a Pokémon book while Nibley asked him to spell words such as "any," "day" and "too."
Tutors also benefit
Tutors work with teachers and school-services coordinators to develop instructional goals for each student. Tutors file monthly reports to measure the progress of the students.
Principals, teachers and tutors agree the program is beneficial.
One student at Centennial began scoring 100 percent on her spelling tests after she began working with a tutor, said Lisa Stewart, Centennial's school services coordinator.
While the program is in schools to develop the confidence and skills of its young students, the older folks are finding joy in their participation as well.
"It's really been outstanding," Nibley said. "It's a good feeling. You just feel that you have accomplished something."
Nibley is even learning new terms himself. Before he started tutoring, Nibley said he was unaware of the word "cursive."
"It was new to me," he said.
Like Nibley, Pat Bowen finds joy in working with students at Homer Davis.
"It's the sunshine of my life," said Bowen. "Heaven knows, I can find plenty to do. I just want to help."
Bowen worked in a high school library in New Berlin, Wis., before retirement brought her and her husband to the Tucson area in 1990. They live in Oro Valley.
Bowen is in her second year at the school, 4250 N. Romero Road, and was named the school's Volunteer of the Year for the 2006-07 school year.
In addition to her teaching duties, she has helped at the school carnivals and donated to the resource center.
Homer Davis Principal Brett Bonner said Bowen is an asset to the school, and he would appreciate having more volunteers like her.
"We need help," he said. "We need support."
If you go
What: Experience Corps informational meeting.
Where: Oro Valley Public Library, 1305 W. Naranja Drive.
When: 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Friday.
To volunteer: People interested in volunteering at Centennial Elementary School can contact Lisa Stewart
at 696-8220.
People interested in volunteering at Homer Davis Elementary School can contact Amy Brenton
at 696-8296
.
