Volunteer Interest Form

Please complete this form to share your interest in volunteering with WITS.
  • If you are volunteering with WITS via your company, please use your company email address.
    WITS welcomes volunteers whose first language is not English.

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Our Outcomes

According to data from The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), based on testing from Spring 2024, only 31% of elementary school students in Chicago Public Schools are proficient in reading.

71%
By the end of the school year, 71% of WITS students had met or exceeded the national standard for reading level proficiency in their grade level, compared to 39% at the beginning of the school year.
75%
Seventy-five percent of WITS Kindergarten teachers reported that their students had developed specialized reading interests throughout the year, an increase of more than 30% from the beginning of the year.
84%
Eighty-four percent of WITS students reported that they liked reading books for fun at the end of the school year, up from 68% at the beginning of the school year.​
90%
At the end of the school year, an average of 90% of WITS students reported feeling good or very good about spending time with their mentors.​
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Why WITS Programs Matter

WITS creates community through literacy-based mentorship, enabling teachers to build diverse classroom libraries, and promoting book ownership at home.

How well a student engages in back-and-forth communication is a strong predictor of whether a kindergarten student will meet first grade literacy targets.

With the help of their mentors, WITS Kindergarten students practice building book and print awareness, including reading left to right and distinguishing between letters and words.

According to data from The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), based on testing from Spring 2024, only 31% of elementary school students in Chicago Public Schools are proficient in reading.

71%

By the end of the school year, 71% of WITS students had met or exceeded the national standard for reading level proficiency in their grade level, compared to 39% at the beginning of the school year.

New research emphasizes the need for resources and programs that support students’ emotional well-being, which plays a critical role in their academic success.

100%

One hundred percent of our partner teachers are satisfied with student participation in WITS. Teachers value that our programs promote a love of reading and support social-emotional development in students.

Educators agree that schools play an important role in expanding access to books at home, but many teachers have fewer than one hundred and fifty books in their classroom libraries to serve all their students throughout the year—with 31% of teachers having fewer than fifty books.

According to the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), students who have robust classroom libraries are more likely to be frequent readers.

Surrounding students with books in the classroom helps them develop a sense of themselves as readers. Classroom libraries allow students to value their decision-making ability, giving them confidence and a feeling of ownership.

Learn More About WITS Programs

Mentoring Students in Chicago: Interview with Alex Van Tiem

August 9, 2024

Mentoring Students in Chicago: Insights from Mentor Madison Johnson 

July 16, 2024

WITS Talk: Supporting Newcomers in Chicago Elementary Schools 

February 12, 2024