Let’s be honest, volunteering as a tutor has its challenges. Adult students have adult problems, and sometimes it takes a tutor with an extra dose of patience and flexibility to persist. Kim Trinidad is one of those tutors.

Since 2018, Kim has dedicated her time and energy to helping English Language Learners and Basic Literacy students grow. She continues to prove that she cares just as much about students’ well-being as their success. We are thrilled to recognize Kim as our Spotlight Tutor for September!

What inspired you to volunteer for Literacy Buffalo Niagara?

I first met a literacy tutor more than 30 years ago. I was inspired by them, but couldn’t figure out how to fit it into my busy life of work and family. When I retired, this was my first volunteer activity.

Being a tutor has enriched my life in many ways. I am inspired by the students who work so hard to improve their lives; day to day life is so difficult for ELL and low-level readers.

Share a success story you are proud of:

Admittedly, I can be a little “sappy,” but I have teared up a few times over my students’ accomplishments. I attended the citizenship ceremony for my first student and saw his happiness and pride, and that of his entire family; in his words, he now had “a country.”

I watched as another student successfully read a picture book to her two sons, ages 4 months and 7 years. The oldest child had behavior, learning and language disabilities (they were native English speakers), and had grown up in a home with no books.

What do you enjoy doing when you are not tutoring?

I enjoy physical activities such as horseback riding, curling, tap dancing and a variety of fitness classes. I love animals and volunteer with 3 organizations: SPCA wildlife department, the Buffalo Zoo, and Buffalo Therapeutic Riding Center. My favorite book genres are non-fiction and historical fiction; I also enjoy interesting characters in their everyday lives.

With 15 years of experience under her belt, Mary Ciamaga is one of our longest serving tutors! She has perfected the craft and her students appreciate her teaching style, saying “she makes it easy to learn.” LBN appreciates the effort Mary puts into actualizing real life successes for her students, like getting a passport, and her flexibility in finding ways to meet with them.

What inspired you to volunteer for Literacy Buffalo Niagara?

My love of reading inspired me to volunteer as a tutor. I was hoping to pass this on to others.

What has been the biggest surprise about being a volunteer tutor?

The biggest surprise has been learning as much from my students as I have been teaching them.

Will you share a success story that you are proud of?

One of my past students was studying to be a LPN and together we learned a lot of medical terms and she has succeeded in her endeavors.

What important lessons have you learned as a tutor?

I have learned to be patient and that the student’s needs (and wants) are most important.

Do you have any tips for other tutors?

The tips are to listen to your students and to use the resources available from the staff at Literacy Volunteers!

What do you enjoy doing when you are not tutoring?

Reading, walking (weather permitting) and spending time with family and friends.

Myron Siegel is a bit of a legend in our office. His dedication to his students’ growth can be seen in the amount of effort he puts into every aspect of being a tutor, from his monthly tutor reports to lesson planning to training. In fact, since he began working with us in March 2020, he has attended almost every Tutor Chat! Myron cares deeply for his students and strives to create a comfortable learning environment with interesting lessons. All of this, along with his flexibility and determination, makes him our December Tutor Spotlight!

What inspired you to volunteer for Literacy Buffalo Niagara?

I learned about Literacy Buffalo Niagara from a television news report about the organization. I am retired and I wanted to use some of my time in worthwhile volunteer work. Teaching adults to read seemed like a rewarding way to use my time so I became a volunteer with the organization.

What has been the biggest surprise about being a volunteer tutor?

I have been impressed by the similarity of literacy training to other efforts that adults make when they attempt self-improvement. Just as it’s easy to want to be more physically fit, or to want to play a musical instrument, it’s easy to want to improve literacy, but in all of these cases, it is much harder to maintain the original motivation and do the hard work to reach your goal. In addition to developing appropriate lessons, the tutor has an important role in keeping the student engaged and motivated to make lessons and assignments, fun and exciting (at least most of the time) rather than being a chore.

Will you share a success story that you are proud of?

Both of the students with who have had enough hours of instruction to qualify for having a follow-up exam have shown improvement on the follow-up testing. In that way, they are both success stories. In the first of these cases, other life circumstances ended our sessions. I have been working with my current student for over a year which is a tribute to his motivation to improve. I regard his willingness to continue in the program as another success. I’m proud of him and get some satisfaction from the idea that I may have had some role in keeping him motivated to keep working at improving his literacy.

What important lessons have you learned as a tutor?

One essential lesson that I learned is that it takes a certain amount of courage for adult students to enter a literacy program. Unlike activities like learning a musical instrument, or engaging in fitness training, most adults in basic literacy learner programs have a history of failure when it comes to developing adequate literacy skills. Entering a literacy program means they are facing a process that is likely to be intimidating to them based on their past struggles. Recognizing this makes it that much more important to praise even small accomplishments. Another lesson that I have found to be important is that subject matter that engages the student and makes him think about the ideas presented improves motivation and makes learning more enjoyable.

Do you have any tips for other tutors?

I think it’s important to be patient and to stay positive. I also think It’s helpful to look for resources where the content both interests the student and is at a level appropriate to the student’s ability. In this way, the student is more engaged with the reading and is more likely to feel successful. Getting feedback and advice from the professionals in charge of the program is also important. They can also provide resources tailored to the student’s needs.

What do you enjoy doing when you are not tutoring?

I am interested in American history and I also volunteer as a docent at the Buffalo History Museum. I have been a Buffalo Bills season ticket holder for over thirty years and as many fellow fans know, that includes years when the highlight of the experience was tailgating prior to the frequently disappointing result of the game that followed. At least in recent years, disappointment has come later in the season, but who knows, maybe this could be the year; then again, maybe not.

Is there anything else you would like to share (a memorable story, your tutoring philosophy, etc.)?

I believe that it’s important to remember that impaired reading skills do not necessarily indicate impaired intelligence. Many otherwise intelligent people have an isolated difficulty with reading. While I have no information about any formal evaluation of my current student’s intellectual ability, I have been impressed with insights that he has shared with me during our sessions together.

As one example, my student has been reading two books in the Rapid Reads series designed for adults with limited reading skills. Our approach has been that he read a chapter a week at home which we then discuss at the beginning of our next session. The two books are by the same author and have the same main character. Unprompted, my student, while reading the second book, noted that while the motivation of the main character was clear in the first book because he needed to clear himself after being falsely of a serious crime, in the second book, that same character took it upon himself to solve a mystery that had nothing to do with him. I was quite impressed by my student’s ability to recognize this important difference.

In another case, last year, we had a discussion about Buffalo Bills player, Von Miller who was attempting to return to play after sustaining a serious knee injury the year before. My student, who played varsity football in high school and likely would have played in college if his reading skills had been better, and who sustained the same knee injury as Miller during his playing days, insisted that Miller would be unable to return. Miller did return last year, but his play was disappointing. Then on July 1st this summer, the Buffalo News had a story headlined, “Von Miller admits he ‘shouldn’t have even been playing’ during sack-less season.” My student had been proven right in the end. After sharing this, my student wanted to read the entire article, which we did together.

I think these insights on the part of my student, indicate that improving his reading skills could unlock a great deal of potential ability that could allow him to pursue opportunities that have not been available to him.