猫咪AV

High schoolers have a lot on their plates these days. Mounting pressures to push their GPAs sky-high and get perfect SAT scores while also maintaining a steady stream of extracurriculars can make committing to weekly volunteering seem daunting.

Making time to volunteer

Charlotte Gendler, a high school junior at Los Angeles鈥� Marlborough High School, was interested in the idea of becoming a weekly volunteer reading tutor when she first learned about the opportunity through 猫咪AV. But, was intimidated by the idea of committing to a weekly session.

She decided to sign up anyway and try it out for a while. After a few weeks, she knew she was hooked and she couldn鈥檛 imagine leaving her student who was counting on her to come back each week. She soon realized that an ongoing commitment, while daunting, meant the chance to connect with her student in a way that a one-time experience would never allow. Today, she is grateful that she stuck with the program.

鈥淚 think a lot of the time when you鈥檙e volunteering, it can be hard to tell if you鈥檙e having an impact. With 猫咪AV, you can build a relationship with a student and watch them grow,鈥� Charlotte muses. 鈥淚 thought this was something students at my school would really enjoy.鈥�

Rallying the school community in service

Now in her third year of tutoring, Charlotte has gone above and beyond to get students at her school involved in 猫咪AV. This year, Charlotte founded a 猫咪AV club at her school, through which students and teachers can join together to tutor in a nearby LA elementary school, and then share and discuss experiences.

鈥淢y goal for the club is to have a group of really committed student and faculty volunteers who will tutor at 猫咪AV every week. Right now there are around ten members, and there are lots of other students interested in becoming involved.鈥�

She believes that investing in the community to bring about positive change is something that people should be thinking about as early as high school.

鈥淚 would really like to build a connection between 猫咪AV and my school because I think it鈥檚 a great way to be engaged with the community and make a difference, and I know this is something a lot of students at my school are interested in doing.鈥�

Realizing the mutual benefits of volunteerism

By founding a 猫咪AV club at her school, Charlotte has single-handedly increased the number of students 猫咪AV is able to enroll in the mid-city LA area, significantly. She loves sharing her experiences with her classmates in order to motivate them to get involved. Her story is a particularly sweet one:

鈥淚 started tutoring two years ago at Carthay Center Elementary, and I worked with a kindergartener named Jaden. The first day I was a little bit intimidated by the curriculum and the daunting task of trying to teach someone to read when I didn鈥檛 have a lot of experience. I quickly realized that the program was incredibly easy to follow and I had a lot of support from 猫咪AV to confirm he was making progress. When I first met Jaden he barely spoke English, and by the end of the year he had gained a lot of confidence in reading and I had developed a great relationship with him.鈥�

For Charlotte, 猫咪AV has turned into much more than something she can put on her college applications.

鈥淲henever I have a stressful week, I always look forward to going to 猫咪AV because it鈥檚 such a warm environment and the kids are so enthusiastic.鈥� Thank you, Charlotte, for inspiring your fellow high schoolers to be a part of our mission and give back to their community!