Our program is called Your Experience Counts because we believe that you are an important piece of the equation when it comes to supporting student achievement. You have a wealth of personal and professional experiences that make you an asset in the classroom. You don’t need to have previous teaching or mentoring experience; we’ll help with that. What you do need is a willingness to share your time and talents with your students.
Program Overview
Your Experience Counts is a dynamic academic mentoring program that brings community organizations and volunteers aged 50+ together to give students in under-resourced schools the extra edge they need to succeed. We work closely with our school district partners to recruit and train volunteers to work alongside teachers in the classroom, one-on-one or with small groups of 4th, 5th and 6th graders, on reading, writing, math and science.
History
Your Experience Counts began in 2006 with the goal to engage adults aged 50+ in meaningful volunteer opportunities that support academic achievement in under-resourced schools. Your Experience Counts originally operated as a partnership program between HandsOn Greater Phoenix, Mesa Community College, and the Mesa Public School District. The collaboration was designed to leverage the strengths of each partner: the volunteer recruitment and management expertise of HandsOn Greater Phoenix and the instructional expertise of Mesa Public Schools.
We have since added the following school partners: the Osborn, Balsz and Phoenix Elementary School Districts joined us for the 2010-2011 academic year and Creighton School District has recently come on board for the 2011-2012 school year.
Experience Matters, a new nonprofit focused on engaging Boomers, joined the partnership in 2010 to further expand the program.