PROGRAM HELPS SPREAD TALENT

Ellie Knight of Scott City, RSVP director in Scott County for over 20 years and in Cape Girardeau County since 1992, said the program was a method for senior citizens to utilize their lifetime of skills in an intergenerational manner.

"Several years back members of the senior population may have felt they didn't have something to share or they felt inadequate," Knight said. "Nowadays, senior citizens might not want to be involved full time, but they still want to make a difference.

"The beauty of the program is that volunteers can pick and choose what they like to do," Knight said. "It enhances the community and the senior citizens' lives also.

"There are so many talents and skills out there. RSVP tries to match the right person with a particular need in the community. There are a lot of things to match up, and that just doesn't happen," Knight said.

Some of the RSVP volunteers are working with the literacy program at the Cape Girardeau Vo-Tech School helping adults to read. Some volunteers are retired teachers who are reinforcing reading skills in Cape Girardeau's elementary schools.

"That just started in Cape's schools last year," Knight said.

Extra help is available for any student in grades one to three. The retired teachers often work individually with the students to keep them caught up with the rest of the class. Since it is one-on-one between the volunteer and the student, that has helped the success of the program, Knight said.

The volunteers work with the students on their phonics, making sure they say the right sounds. Knight said it is probably one of the most successful programs RSVP does.

Knight said she expects RSVP volunteers to return to the classrooms soon to continue their help. She said it is usually a few weeks after school starts before teachers call the RSVP office asking for the volunteers to be scheduled into their classrooms. She said she expects most of the Cape Girardeau schools to have volunteers on the scene before the end of the month.

Knight said she hopes to expand RSVP into Jackson. She said she was working with the Jackson school administration to provide RSVP volunteers as additional classroom helpers concentrating on reading.