Twice a week in the fall, a small group of Elmhurst University students visits Emerson Elementary School in Elmhurst to tutor first- through fifth-grade pupils in reading.

Part of the University’s Reading Clinic practicum, the sessions help the Elmhurst students earn reading endorsements, and help the young readers develop their skills. The program has been so successful, it just celebrated its 25th anniversary.

In 2000, Barbara Ahlgrim was one of the first Elmhurst students to tutor the Emerson pupils. Now she leads the Reading Clinic as an adjunct education faculty member.

As a student tutor, she said, the experience “helped me learn how to lesson-plan and endeavor to meet the needs of individual students.”

“I also learned that students responded so much better when they were enjoying their time learning to read, so I took that with me throughout my teaching career and tried to make every day enjoyable for my students,” said Ahlgrim, who was a junior at the time.

In the 25 years since Ahlgrim tutored her first Emerson pupils, the University has continued to send five students to Emerson every fall to tutor young readers who are hand-picked by their teachers to participate. The pupils do not qualify for the highest education interventions, but do need extra support to develop a love of reading and to reach grade-level reading skills.

As in 1999, the Reading Clinic is a win-win for the tutors and pupils alike: The Emerson students become better readers, and the Elmhurst students gain hands-on experience with lesson planning, organizing classroom learning activities, and planning celebrations of student successes—not to mention the reading endorsement, which makes them more marketable as they pursue their teaching careers.

Senior elementary education major Brenna Morley said the experience will help her prepare for a career as an elementary school teacher. She tutored three third-grade students in the fall.

“The most rewarding part of working with the children was seeing their faces when they accomplished something that had been frustrating them,” she said. “We often worked on the skills the students were struggling with the most, so seeing them accomplish their goals and be proud of themselves for doing so was amazing.”

Sheleen DeLockery, principal at Emerson for seven years, has witnessed firsthand the positive impact of the Reading Clinic. The key to its success, she said, is the bond between the tutors and the students.“The tutors start off building a great relationship with the kids because they know how important it is to have that positive learning environment so that the students want to come and get additional reading support,” she said. “I see a lot of confidence and enjoyment of reading increasing among the students, as well as an increase in achievement and skills and accessible reading strategies.”

Judy Fiene, an adjunct education faculty member, started the Reading Clinic to provide extra help to elementary pupils who were challenged in their reading abilities. She designed an Elmhurst education course to teach students how to tutor, then arranged for them to work in Emerson for the remainder of the term.

At the end of every Fall Term, the tutors and pupils celebrate their accomplishments with a party. The highlight is the recognition the young readers get from their tutors and fellow readers, Ahlgrim said.

“The tutors award certificates to each child at the end of the party, calling up the students one at a time,” she said. “I was delighted and surprised by how excited the students were to receive their certificates and how they cheered each other on.”

For Ahlgrim and the Elmhurst tutors, the real payoff is watching the students get excited about reading as their skills improve.

“To witness first- and fifth-grade students come into the clinic in September with reading challenges and reticence, and leave the clinic in December with confidence and enthusiasm in reading brings our tutors and me great joy,” Ahlgrim said.