Lawyers for Literacy pairs Tucson school kids with legal professionals

Adan, a third-grader at Lineweaver Elementary School, reads aloud from a Magic School Bus book in Ms. Cummins’ first-grade classroom. Usually, he enjoys fictional stories about monsters and aliens, or just anything slimy.

Sitting beside him is Pima County Superior Court Judge Joan Wagener, hunched over in a short red chair, a far cry from her typical seat on the bench. She smiles as she listens to Adan’s enthusiastic reading of the Magic School Bus’s exploits in outer space.

For almost 25 years, Wagener has been a volunteer reader with Lawyers for Literacy, a program supported by the Pima County Bar Foundation that pairs legal professionals with elementary school students to bolster their reading development. Lawyers, paralegals, judges and other legal professionals are all welcome to volunteer as reading partners with students as part of the program.

Over the course of a school year, from October to May, the volunteer readers develop close friendships with the young students they meet with to read every week. As the year progresses, so do the students’ reading skills, and the volunteers witness their growth firsthand.

Every Monday at 5:30 p.m., the legal professionals meet up with their reading buddies, often in a school library, for one hour of uninterrupted reading time. The students read books from their book bags to their mentors. The books were selected by the students and their teachers at the beginning of the year.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Hansen is another longtime volunteer with the program. She described her experience as intrinsically joyful, offering a much-needed injection of fun into her stressful work week.

“What’s particularly fun about reading with a child is that the teachers and the kids pick out the books,” Hansen said. “So it’s not about the lawyer, it’s about the kid. It’s about the reading.”

Confidence, social skills also improve

Before the pandemic brought an abrupt halt to the program in 2020, the program operated at seven elementary schools across Tucson, including Manzo, Fruchthendler and Lineweaver. After a two-year hiatus, the program was revived at Lineweaver Elementary during the fall of 2022.

At Lineweaver, first-grade teacher Lily Cummins acts as the school intermediary for the program. Cummins said she has held this role for six or seven years, coordinating with volunteers from Lawyers for Literacy to pair them with Lineweaver students.

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She has seen firsthand how the program has helped improve students’ reading skills over the course of a school year, she said. Additionally, as the students develop relationships with their mentors, she has seen noticeable advancements in their confidence and social skills.

“For parents and teachers, I think we are interested in somebody besides us talking to kids about reading and social skills and manners, and it’s always good for somebody else to bring those things up,” Cummins said. “It’s a requirement that a certified staff member is around, but really, it’s just music to my ears.”

The Pima County Bar Association began supporting Lawyers for Literacy in 1991 with the goal of helping lawyers and other legal professionals volunteer in a way that leaves a tangible impact.

‘The kids are happy’

The volunteers say they’re astounded by the progress their reading buddies make, and they relish the relationships they develop with their student partners. By the end of the year, both the student and the volunteer have made a new friend.

“Quite frankly, I think sometimes it’s harder to tell who enjoys getting there more, the students or the reading buddies,” Hansen said.

To quantify the success of the program, Hansen said the best way is to look at the kids themselves.

“From my perspective, the answer is smiles,” Hansen said. “You go into the room and the kids are happy. They’re talking to people who, when they started reading, were complete strangers.”

The volunteers hope the program will return to more elementary schools throughout Tucson.

“It sounds like it’s just reading, but it’s so much more,” Wagener said.